Hero of Legends
by fairyxlucyxdragon
Summary: What if the Sandaime was the one to seal the Kyuubi instead of Minato and Tsunade was there to heal Kushina? Welcome to the world where Minato and Kushina never died. Naruto grows up as a prodigy and with his father's and Jiraiya's guidance, becomes one of the strongest shinobi alive! NaruSaku and possible other pairings
1. Prologue

**AN/: Hello, people! Well, I'm here with my first Naruto fanfic, and yeah, I think I'm satisfied with the first chapter. Now, before you read, I'd like you to know…**

**You're Awesome.**

Minato sighed as he took another glance at his newborn son, who was sleeping with a serene expression on his face next to his half-dead mother. Kushina was panting heavily, clearly exhausted. It wasn't like Minato could blame her; she had given birth and gotten her bijuu, the nine-tails, extracted, both in the same day. Still, she was trying to hold the damn furball with her chakra chains. Minato knew that she couldn't go on for much longer, which only granted him a very strong wave of not so nice emotions. Looking at his son wasn't helping with the guilt either.

His son. _His_. His own very little kid, who would have to bear a life full of scorning and hatred because of him… If only he had protected Kushina well, none of the destruction the bijuu had caused would have happened. If only…

Minato shook his head and freed himself of the thoughts. As much as it was his fault, he didn't want to sink in guilt at all. All that mattered right there and then was stopping the fox from causing any more damage. He knew that there was only one technique he could possibly seal the bijuu with, given the circumstances. Just as he was about to perform the needed hand seals, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Minato was met with his sensei, Jiraiya.

"Don't you dare die on me, gaki." Jiraiya said, smiling as though they weren't in the middle of a fight with the strongest of the tailed beasts. He felt a hand at the back of his neck as realization dawned on him.

"Good night, Minato." With that, Jiraiya knocked the young Hokage out. The last thing the blonde managed to see was the figure of a panicking Tsunade performing medical jutsu on Kushina and an enraged third Hokage stepping in front of him.

* * *

The Sandaime was furious. He was running at top speed, searching for his successor, his two students following him closely. He was quite sure that the bastard brat was about to use the dreaded seal that would end his life. Then again, the Dead Demon Consuming seal was probably the only one capable of sealing the nine tails with the small amount of time Minato had left. Hiruzen knew that he had to act fast, Minato was, after all, a fuuinjutsu master, and he would take less time than what would normally be needed while sealing.

"I'm sensing Minato's chakra signature! This way!" Jiraiya yelled as he changed the direction they were running in, continuing to run as fast as he could, this time towards the forest. Hiruzen could clearly see the worried expression on the Toad Sage's face and it only served to make him angrier. He increased the pace and, glancing at his other student, who was having the same troubles as Jiraiya, he sighed, knowing that both were probably past the point of thinking straight.

Jiraiya had to bite the insides of his cheeks to keep himself from uttering a rather colourful chain of curses. He had lost a LOT of things, a comrade, pupils, the girl he loved (who just so happened to be running next to him) and he certainly wasn't losing the only thing he had close to a family. Minato was like a son to him, as he had grown up next to him, under his watch. Like hell he was letting his student go and kill himself. Jiraiya was pretty sure that he would bring Minato back as an Edo Tensei and torture him, only to kill and revive him again with the same forbidden technique. _Forbidden or not_, Jiraiya thought, _he'd be asking for it, performing that damn seal._

Next to Jiraiya, Tsunade wasn't faring much better. Minato had become a son to her as much as he had become one to Jiraiya. Hell, he reminded Tsunade of her brother and no one, _no one_ was taking another precious person from her. The medic couldn't shake off the idea of her loved ones getting hurt, which, to her relief, actually made her even angrier. Rage didn't blur Tsunade's sense as it did other people, it gave her inhuman strength, which she was going to make sure the nine tails received from.

The three ninjas continued to dive deeper in the forest, until the barrier Minato had created stopped them in their tracks. Jiraiya couldn't hold himself from cursing anymore, not caring about his sensei or the most feared kunoichi of the world standing next to him, as he could clearly see Minato and Kushina. Just as he was about to summon a toad to break the barrier, he caught a glimpse of a _very_ angry Tsunade lifting her fist. A second later, the barrier was literally shattered. For once, Jiraiya thanked the impossible strength the other sannin possessed.

Jiraiya ran towards Minato, Tsunade took Kushina in her arms, starting to heal her, and Hiruzen stood face to face with the godforsaken nine tailed fox, who was the cause of the whole havoc. He looked back at Jiraiya, whispering,

"You know what to do."

Jiraiya didn't have to be told twice. He hit a pressure point on Minato's neck and with that one swift whack the Hokage was out. Jiraiya carried his student next to where Kushina was being treated, returning to his sensei's side in almost a flash.

"So I guess this is the end Jiraiya." The Sandaime said, not looking at the sannin.

The sage could only watch as his teacher ran through hand seals, finally yelling out the name of the jutsu.

"Dead Demon Sealing Technique!"

Jiraiya closed his eyes. The voice of his sensei was continually replaying itself in his head, almost tormenting him. _So in the end_, he thought, _I still have to lose someone, don't I?_

Hiruzen smiled, the feeling of relief wash over him. He had successfully summoned "The Reaper" and all that was left was taking care of the sealing part, which his summon was attending to at that very moment. His vision started to go black and he understood that his time was almost up.

Minato woke up, finding himself on the forest floor. He stayed that way for some time until his recent memories came rushing in and he shot up from his spot, sprinting towards Jiraiya. As much as he would've liked to punch his sensei, or leave him to the capable hands of his wife and Tsunade, he refrained from doing so, instead looking at his predecessor, who, by that point, was already on his knees.

"You four," The Sandaime said between gasps for air,

"Make that kid," Hiruzen Sarutobi put on a heart-warming smile,

"A legend."

* * *

**Congrats, Kit. It's your third birthday today.**

Thanks, Kurama. Hey, can I ask a question?

**Sure, Kit.**

You won't leave, right?

**No, Kit. I'm here until you and I both die.**

AN/: SO HOW WAS IT?

Good? Perfect? Bad? Horrible? Tell me! Virtual hugs to you all!


	2. My Dream Is

**An:/ Hello again! So, this chapter will be fluffy fluff between Sasuke, Itachi and Naruto, and I'll also add fluffy fluff with the clan heirs, you know, like Shikamaru, Hinata and Ino and I'll put Naruto and Sakura's first meeting in. Read and enjoy!**

**RESPONSES TO YOUR REVIEWS**

**Unnormal Child: Thanks! I know, right? Oh I specifically added that, I think that the Kurama and Naruto scene was cute too!**

**25BAM50: Thanks!**

**XxAshishxX: Don't worry about that, I'll finish the story. I have the whole thing planned out (literally, the plan is on sheets and it's about 30 pages with pictures) until Shippuden, because, you know, some authors tend to have this "writer's block" thing and I really don't like it when they drop the story. So, chill out, the story will be finished. And the Shippuden part will be for the sequel, so yeah, I have plenty of time to finish the plans for it.**

**Guest 1: Thanks, and enjoy reading!**

**Paul Perkins: Well, I made it short purposefully, since it's the prologue. Thanks!**

**Guest 2: I know, as I said, the first chapter was short because it was the prologue. The normal chapters will be between 4K and 7K because I tend to lose track of what I'm writing when it's past that point. Anyways, glad you enjoyed it.**

**Alex: Well, here's the chapter!**

**Guest 3: Fast, aren't I? **

**VOTE ON THE POLL, ALL OF YOU! I put it on my profile so when you're finished with reading, go vote.**

**On with the story:**

"Naruto, hey Naruto, wake up."

Kushina said, nudging the small boy sleeping inside the navy blue sheets. Naruto stirred a little but turned and continued sleeping. A vein popped on Kushina's forehead but she forced herself to stay calm.

"Naruto, get up."

She once again nudged the sleeping boy, who this time didn't even react. That was the last of Kushina's patience.

"NAMIKAZE NARUTO! GET UP BEFORE I PUNCH THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS OUT OF YOU!" She yelled, her hair forming nine tails.

"I'm up!"

Naruto said, hopping off the bed and running past his mother to hide. Kushina sighed, knowing that a very tiring day was ahead. It was Naruto's third birthday and the boy was heir to not only one, but two clans, meaning they'd have to go through the official birthday ceremony and invite all the clan heads of Konoha.

Kushina flinched as she remembered the incident three years ago. Sure, Kurama was no longer a threat, but her son was having a very difficult time mingling with the citizens. The redhead had often seen her son talking to the bijuu, which was a rather weird sight since, although the boy could see Kurama in his head, no one except him could. Kushina sighed, although this formal birthday ceremony thing was a pain in the neck, it could help her son with his small problem of sociality.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

Kushina's thoughts were interrupted by Naruto's scream and she immediately ran to the source of the voice, finding a very amused Minato tickling Naruto. She chuckled, joining her husband.

"No torture without me, Minato!"

Naruto desperately tried to free himself of his mother and father, failing miserably. The poor victim of Minato's attack was laughing uncontrollably. Minato and Kushina stopped after a while and picked Naruto up.

"Dad attacked me mum!"

Naruto said, pouting. Minato started laughing out loud, holding his head with one hand while the other was pressed against the wall, supporting him.

"Wait, you attacked me too." Naruto's eyes widened and his pout only grew.

"You two are horrible." Naruto mumbled with an angry expression no one would have expected from a three-year-old.

This time it was Kushina who was laughing. Minato only chuckled, enjoying the idea of irritating his son.

"Happy birthday, Naruto." Both said, looking at Naruto.

The boy smiled and returned to his room to change his clothes.

* * *

"Brother, can you teach me how to throw a kunai?"

Sasuke asked with a hopeful look. His brother thought he looked cute like that, although teaching a three-year-old how to throw a kunai was very dangerous. He flashed a brief smile before saying,

"Sasuke, you're _three_."

Sasuke frowned; his brother was _always_ bringing up the age topic. He _knew_ that he was _three_. The training was just an excuse, in truth he wanted to spend time with his brother. Itachi was always busy and the few times he wasn't, he was training. Sasuke could understand a little, but he couldn't help thinking that his brother didn't want to spend time with him.

Itachi could see the frown on his little brother's face. He didn't like seeing the boy like that, but hey; who said that he was good with people? He was a child prodigy, given, but the raven wasn't really the best when it came to emotions. Besides, it wasn't like he didn't care. He cared too much, so putting his brother in danger at such a young age was out of question. The eight-year-old Uchiha put on another smile, saying,

"Forgive me, Sasuke. I promise to teach you how to throw kunais when you grow up."

The little Sasuke's frown disappeared. With an enthusiastic face, he asked,

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Mikoto Uchiha entered the room in which her two sons were. She smiled upon seeing them; the boys were truly a very amusing sight to watch, seeing as Sasuke sometimes received one or two flicks on the forehead from his brother. What truly amazed Mikoto was that Itachi wasn't this friendly to anyone, not even to his own mother and father. Sasuke was different. He could actually make the older Uchiha sibling smile.

"Well boys, sorry to interrupt you, but we have a ceremony to attend to."

Itachi and Sasuke looked up curiously, they hadn't been informed of a ceremony.

"What is it, mother?" Itachi asked. The Uchiha clan rarely attended ceremonies unless they were their own, and they rarely had any.

Itachi looked at his little brother's curious face, noticing his happy smile. He couldn't help but soften his expression.

"Itachi, you do know about the Namikaze clan, right?" Mikoto asked, looking at both of them. Itachi's eyes widened, and he attempted to say something. The keyword here being _attempted_. Sasuke jumped up, almost shouting,

"That's the Hokage's clan, isn't it?"

Mikoto nodded at her smallest son.

"Yes, and today is their clan heir's third birthday." Itachi furrowed his brows.

"That's weird. I didn't know that they had an heir." Mikoto visibly tensed at this.

"He doesn't go out often because of a certain _incident_."

Itachi didn't really get it. He knew the Hokage; after all, his mother was a close friend of his ever since their academy years. He knew his wife too; the redheaded woman would pay his mother visits at least twice a month. He remembered her being called Kushina Uzumaki…wait, Uzumaki?

"Mother, he isn't-"

"Itachi." Mikoto cut off her son mid sentence, pointing at the clueless Sasuke next to him, who was listening closely.

"In any case, get ready you two." She said before leaving.

* * *

It was nearing noon and the ceremony was about the start, some of the guests had even arrived. Kushina was frantically searching for her son, fully alarmed. The boy was already in his ceremonial hakama outfit, so Kushina was actually impressed, since escaping the compound with those clothes and not catching attention was quite a stunning feat for a three year old. This didn't change the fact that Kushina wanted to strangle him though.

"Kushina, have you found him?" a huffing Minato asked. Kushina just shook her head.

"That teme!" the readhead clenched her fist when suddenly an idea popped in her head.

"Minato, do you have one of the Flying Thunder God tags on him?"

"His normal clothes have one but I would've never guessed that he'd manage to run away in his hakama." A frown appeared on his face as he looked at the door. The Hyuga Clan had arrived.

"Hey Gaki." Minato turned around to be greeted by the Toad Sage.

"Sensei!" but before the two could exchange words of reunion, Kushina grabbed Jiraiya's arm and dragged him away.

"Great timing, summon toads and help find my son unless you want to receive a punch from me and fly away to land in Tsunade-nee's room."

Jiraiya could only look at Minato for help, only to find his student with a mournful look.

* * *

Naruto skipped down the streets happily, humming a cheerful tone. The little blonde boy ignored the weird looks and occasional whispers of "monster" or "the Hokage's kid", as he received them whenever he was out, which was why he didn't really like going out. His mother had tried to drag him to other clans' compounds countless times, and Naruto had always come up with creative excuses. He had to admit though, the two times he had failed to come up with one hadn't been so bad.

The first time, his mother had taken him to the Nara Clan compound, and their clan heir, Shikamaru, had become one of Naruto's only friends. The two would mostly lie down on grass and argue about clouds, or have talks about troublesome things. It made Naruto happy to know there was actually someone his age smart enough to understand him.

The second time was a trip to the Hyuga compound. Specifically talking, the Hyuga _branch_ house. They had visited the clan two days after the conclusion of the "Hyuga Affair".

Naruto had watched his father deal with so much work that he wouldn't even come home and continue trying to make negotiations. In the end, his father had successfully _threatened_ Kumogakure into leaving the Hyuga Clan alone by bringing up the destruction they had caused while _kidnapping_ a member of the clan. Both sides had agreed that killing under those circumstances, according to both the laws of Kumo and Konoha, was legal.

It had taken a lot of time for Minato to achieve victory, so Naruto had arrived there with a grudge against whomever he was going to meet.

He had met Neji Hyuga, and, Naruto admitted, he was more than glad to have met him. Neji understood Naruto perfectly and Naruto had an equal understanding of him, they both had the restraint of other people's thoughts on them. They had met many times afterwards, it was mostly Neji who came over, and Naruto truly enjoyed the boy's company. The one thing Naruto didn't like was that Neji was a year older than him and therefore he had already started training as a shinobi. Naruto couldn't wait for when his own training would start.

All was going well, Naruto was walking casually and people were still staring at him and whispering. The boy was happy until he heard a yell of,

"NAMIKAZE NARUTO, YOU'RE SO DEAD!"

Panicking, Naruto started running, his mother was the first person he had listed when Shikamaru had asked him about his own "Troublesome List". Running like a maniac and avoiding the adults, Naruto soon noticed a toad coming after him. The boy fastened his pace, not wanting to be caught. After all, ceremonies were on his list too.

The toad was following Naruto, equally fast. The blonde boy wondered whom the toad was working for, as he knew only one person whose summoned toads could actually _run_, and he hadn't seen that person for some time.

Unfortunately, the boy had lost his concentration and the last thing he saw before crashing into someone was a blur of pink.

_Thud!_

"Ow."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and turned his head to look at the source of the voice, finding a girl with pink hair whose face was hidden in her pink locks. The blonde got up, dusted himself off, and helped the girl get up. He looked at her for a moment.

"Ugly."

As the girl stood, startled and still processing the insult, Naruto turned around, muttering a "sorry" and preparing to run off again. The pinkette noticed his hakama and figured that he was probably a clan heir. Before she could ask anything though, a redheaded woman roughly grabbed the boy by the arm and dragged him away, a toad and a white haired man following them.

"HOW DARE YOU RUN AWAY YOU BRAT? YOU'RE DEFINITELY A NAMIKAZE! I WOULD'VE KILLED YOU RIGHT HERE AND NOW IF NOT FOR THIS STUPID CEREMONY!"

The pink haired girl just stood, rooted at her spot, and stared at the three figures while rubbing her arms. Her brain was still working on the redheaded woman's words_. _

'_What a rude boy. Wait, what? Namikaze? Is he the Hokage's son?'_

"Sakura-chan! Here you are!" a woman made her way through the crowd and put her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Oh my god, what happened?" the woman asked, examining the girl's bruised arm.

"A boy crashed into me, mum." The girl called Sakura answered.

"Oh dear. Do you know who he was, Sakura-chan? I'll make sure to give him a scolding." Her mother inquired, not liking the fact that her daughter had been the victim of a badly behaved kid.

"He's a Namikaze." Sakura answered, her mother's eyes widened.

* * *

"NARUTO, COME HERE AND GIVE ME A HUG." Kushina said, her eyes twinkling dangerously, smirk present.

Naruto hid behind Jiraiya, hoping to escape his mother's death hug. Unfortunately for him, his meat barrier was sent flying after a punch from the redhead.

After receiving a bone-crushing hug from his mother, Naruto caught sight of his father and took the opportunity to get away from Kushina.

"Naruto!"

Minato picked Naruto up and roughly shoved the small boy under his arm, walking as if he were carrying a log, clearly angry. Before Naruto could understand anything that was going on, he was in the middle of a big salon that was crowded with people who sat formally and in groups. He couldn't even ask a single question when people from the groups started to get up and walk towards them. The boy instinctively grabbed his father's pants and hid half of his figure behind him.

"Now, now Naruto, they just want to meet you." Minato said.

The boy let go of him and, although a bit timidly, stood up straight to greet whoever was going to come. He gained at least a tiny bit of courage after seeing the first duo that had come to meet him. They were familiar people.

"Hello, Hokage-sama. How are you doing?" Shikaku Nara asked, his tone bored and clearly giving off the legendary Nara Laziness. He grinned at Naruto and pointed at the boy who was standing next to him. Naruto relaxed after seeing Shikamaru and smiled at him, only to earn a "troublesome" from the boy.

"Fine, Shikaku. Glad you came," Minato answered.

"It _is_ quite troublesome but my son here is a friend of your son and we've been friends for a long time so I don't really mind it. It would be too troublesome to mind."

"Uh…thanks." Minato said. The two lazy Nara's left, leaving Naruto to scowl. His pout didn't last long as another clan head and heir soon greeted him.

"Thank you for granting us the honour, Hokage-sama." Hiashi Hyuga said, extending his left hand to shake hands with Minato.

"The pleasure is all mine." Minato said, accepting the offer.

Meanwhile, Naruto stood next to his father dumbly. He was looking at Hiashi and at the small girl clinging to him as if he had seen a ghost. To Hiashi's back was Hizashi Hyuga and next to him was Neji. Although Naruto knew the two fairly well, he was confused

"Naruto, this is Hiashi Hyuga, the Hyuga Clan Head, and that young lady over there," Minato said, pointing at the small girl with his head,

"Is Hinata Hyuga, the clan heiress."

Naruto still couldn't understand why there were two of "_Uncle Hizashi_" and a girl version of Neji.

Boy, it was going to be a _very_ long day.

* * *

Naruto had met lots of people, nearly every single clan head and heir that had come. Actually, Naruto had realized after the third clan heir, Shino, had left, that his mother was the mastermind behind the whole thing. Sure, the clan heads would naturally come to pay their respects since he happened to be the only heir of the Uzumaki and the Namikaze _and_ the Hokage's kid as a bonus. However, children's attending the ceremony was quite literally unheard of. The blonde had figured out that his mother was trying to get him friends by inviting his probable soon-to-be comrades.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the only clan remaining was about to come forward. He made himself a mental note to ask about the weird sign that looked like a tennis racket on their clothes.

The clan head, Naruto had realized, was quite rude. He had come forward, offered the Hokage his hand, and marched off, leaving his two sons. The older had sighed and decided to greet Minato instead of his father.

"A pleasure to see you again, Hokage-sama."

Itachi's tone was respectful. Very respectful. Naruto had decided that he liked the older boy after examining his face for any sign of smugness, ill will, disrespect or disgust. Most of the people looked at him like that, and, although none in the room did, Naruto was quite used to it. That didn't mean that he liked the stares though, which had led him to the conclusion that people who didn't look at him with those faces were people he liked.

On the other hand, the small boy next to Itachi was quite literally irking Naruto. He looked smug, full of himself and a bit dumb, characteristics that Naruto didn't really appreciate. He made himself another mental note to ask his dad about the boy and, if possible, avoid him throughout his whole life.

If only he knew how utterly wrong he was, thinking that he'd avoid the boy.

After Itachi and Sasuke left, Naruto turned to his father.

"Which clan's head was that rude man?"

"It's not nice to call people you've just met 'rude', Naruto." Minato answered.

"Okay. Which clan?" the older Namikaze sighed at his son's straightforwardness.

"Uchiha." Naruto nodded, understanding where the courage came from and feeling even more irked than before at the fact these people thought highly of themselves because of their clan's silly dojutsu.

"And, Fugaku is actually a good person, he just doesn't look like it." Naruto sweatdropped at his father's optimistic comment.

"Who was the little bastard that gave me the super irritating look?"

"Who do you- wait, you said what?" Minato looked around frantically, searching for his wife's signature red hair.

"A piece of advice from your dad Naruto, never talk like that when your mum is in the vicinity."

"…You saved my life dad."

"Well regardless, you probably misunderstood, Itachi wouldn't really do that and Sasuke is just too young to make you this angry."

Minato wasn't joking. Naruto rarely got angry; he received countless insults from the citizens, tickling attacks from him, bone-crushing hugs from Tsunade and Kushina, and, although he was _very_ young for the stuff, perverted comments from Jiraiya every day, so he had invented his way of "looking angry but refraining from killing the bastards" way.

Given, the three-year-old wasn't physically strong and he was yet to start his ninja training, but he was dangerously smart. Too smart for a child his age, he could understand topics far beyond his age group's understanding and Minato had already started explaining to him the basic chakra theory. The Namikaze knew that although the small boy wasn't a threat now, he would be one in the future, since he had Tsunade's inhuman strength on his side too.

"So his name is Sasuke Uchiha."

Minato mentally slapped himself for giving Naruto the puzzle pieces that the boy had pieced together.

"I like the older one but the little one looks troublesome." Minato looked surprised for a moment.

"That was very Nara-ish."

Naruto grinned.

"Well, now for the ceremony…"

The boy's face hell immediately after hearing the word "ceremony".

"What the hell? Isn't it over?" Minato smirked evilly, his thought of paying Naruto back for his disappearance taking over his body.

"Oh no no, it has just started."

* * *

"Wipe the frown off your face, brat." Kushina hissed, still angry.

Naruto had tried to run away during the ceremony and Kushina had barely managed ordering him to stay down without anyone hearing. The boy was so getting punishment for trying to run twice in the same day.

"Cheer up, gaki. It's over, isn't it?" Jiraiya said, earning himself a glare from Kushina.

"In case you don't know, I invited Tsunade-nee over and she is probably waiting for us in the living room." The redhead openly smirked.

"You know what, I think I'll pay Minato a visit, that kid has to finish a day's worth of paperwork in two hours. Maybe I'll even help him."

With that Jiraiya took off, a blur of yellow following him.

"Ahahaha I'll tag along." And Kushina was left standing alone.

"I'll get you two back for this." She said, clenching her fist.

* * *

"Naruto? Sensei? What are you doing here?" Minato asked.

"We came to…uh … to pay a visit." Jiraiya said and then added,

"We definitely aren't running from Kushina or anything. We really aren't."

The young Hokage sweatdropped.

"Too bad though, I was just returning. I already finished the work." A very evil smirk appeared on Jiraiya's face as he thought of blackmailing his student.

"Shadow clones, huh Minato? It would be so bad if Kushina heard about this, wouldn't it?"

Kushina didn't like Minato using shadow clones because she thought of it as a form of cheating. Moreover, the blonde man literally flashed everywhere, which was another form of cheating in Kushina's eyes, and it was either shadow clones or his flashing tags and kunai according to the redhead's strict rules.

"What do you want?" Minato asked, irritated but more than that afraid to lose his teleportation seals.

"Don't let me die. Tsunade is waiting for us in your living room."

"Fair enough." Minato said, sympathy in his eyes.

Naruto, who had stayed quiet throughout the whole conversation, decided to remind them of the time.

"Dad, Tsunade-baa chan is waiting and it's past 8 o'clock."

"Shit." Naruto heard his father say before they all started to run for their lives.

* * *

"Why is it dark?" A curious Naruto asked. He got no response so he turned around searching for Minato and Jiraiya, only to find no one.

"Dad?"

Naruto slowly walked, heading for the dark living room. Once he opened the door an almost drunk Tsunade tackled him to the ground. He heard the flick of the light switch and the rest came after that.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY NARUTO!"

Naruto was surprised. He couldn't move, because he had been caught in Tsunade's bone crushing hug, but he could clearly see and the scene in front of him and it made him so happy he wanted to cry.

Minato and Kushina were smiling like idiots, one carrying a mountain of presents and another a large cake; Jiraiya was trying to hide as he had found a chance to escape Tsunade's sight, Kakashi was hanging down the ceiling, reading his book, Shizune desperately trying to get him down, a shy Neji and a bored Shikamaru looking at him.

When Tsunade finally let him go and started searching for Jiraiya, Naruto got up and walked towards the main event.

"What are you doing, Kakashi-nii?" he asked, trying to hide his shocked and shaking tone. The silver haired boy looked at him, saying,

"Reading the new book Jiraiya-sama gave me." he said and soon went back to hanging and reading.

"Happy birthday, Naruto." Neji said, shoving a present into his arms. Then before he could open it and see what was inside,

"Here. Geez so troublesome…" Shikamaru came and gave him another one. Naruto wanted to thank them, he at least had a small bit of manners, but he couldn't as presents rained on him.

"Oops. Naruto, you okay?" Minato asked, he had lost his balance and tripped while walking.

"MINATO YOU BASTARD, HOW DARE YOU HURT MY BABY SON!" Kushina's voice pierced through the heavens as she joined Tsunade in hunting the men down. Shizune desperately tried to stop her master but was having real trouble while trying to stop the two insanely strong women.

Naruto returned to what he was doing, dragging his two friends back to sit on the couch and be safe while his mother and Tsunade were terrorizing the male population. First, he took the green box Neji had given him and started to untie the neatly made bow on it. When he finally opened the box, he wanted to choke Neji with a hug.

"Thanks Neji! How did you know that I'd need these?"

"Well I thought you'd start your training soon and I had started mine with shuriken throwing practice so I thought they'd be useful."

Naruto somehow resisted the urge to hug and kiss the boy out of gratitude.

The blonde then proceeded with Shikamaru's box, which was smaller in size compared to Neji, and wasn't as neatly decorated as his. When he opened the box, all he could say was,

"What the hell is this?"

Shikamaru looked at him carelessly.

"They call it a Rubik's Cube. You solve it. It helps in troublesome times and it's not troublesome to carry around, although it's troublesome to solve it."

"Thanks, Shikamaru. I experience countless troublesome things." Naruto said, gesturing to the adults.

* * *

It was a bit past 9 o'clock, Neji and Shikamaru had already left and Naruto was sleepy. Jiraiya and Minato had flown out the window a couple of minutes ago and were now sitting down on the floor, Kakashi and Shizune bringing them ice bags.

"In any case Naruto, I guess I should give you your present."

Naruto looked at his father incredulously. He had already showered him in gifts and there was _more_? Or perhaps Minato had hit his head when Kushina had pushed him out of the window.

"Dad, you already gave me _tons_ of presents."

"Oh no, those were from your mum and Shizune-chan." He said, getting up to open a cupboard and take out a large yellow box out of it. Once Naruto got his hands on the box, he opened it carefully.

"Dad, these are…"

"Yup, your very own flashing tags and kunai." Minato said, smiling.

Naruto's eyes were getting blurry.

"Does that mean that you'll teach me?"

"For some time, yes. But I trust Jiraiya-sensei with your training." He sent the sannin a meaningful look.

"Thank you, dad." Naruto said with a genuine smile.

"No prob-" Minato was interrupted mid-sentence by his angry wife.

"YOU BASTARD! I AM NOT LETTING THAT PERVERT TEACH MY SON!"

And once again, the chasing game started.

Kakashi walked over to where Naruto was and tossed him a book.

"You'll like it. It's a book of Jiraiya-sama's. Called 'The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja.' At least I think you'll like it once you learn how to read but whatever." He said ruffling Naruto's hair. The teen soon went back to his spot to continue reading his own orange book.

"Time for my present, gaki." Jiraiya said, hiding something behind his back. Even Kushina was curious as she stopped chasing Minato for a short while to look at the white haired man.

"Naruto, what is your dream?" the Toad Sannin asked, face serious.

"My…dream?" the boy asked, clearly not understanding.

"We are shinobi, Naruto. We kill in order to protect our precious people and our goals. We continue struggling until we achieve our dreams and even after that we continue killing for what we think is right. A shinobi without a dream becomes ridiculous and every shinobi without one is destined to go down the path of treason. If you choose this way of life Naruto, you have to know what you want from your life and what you live for."

Kushina frowned and took a step forward to scold Jiraiya. Many jonins couldn't find answers to this particular question and her son was _three_ for god's sake, he wasn't even a shinobi yet. Kushina took a few more steps when she felt someone grab her arm and pull her back. She looked at Minato questioningly and he shook his head, just with that she took the message and continued watching.

Naruto thought. He thought really hard, trying to find out what he wanted the most, who he wanted to protect.

'_I would be extremely sad if anything happened to mum and dad. I would be really sad if something happened to Tsunade-baa chan and Jiraiya-jii. I would be very sad if something happened to Shizune-nee and Kakashi-nii. I would be downright pissed if something happened to Neji and Shikamaru.'_

Jiraiya waited patiently while watching the boy's expressions change continually. He admitted that the question was really hard for a three-year-old boy but he had faith in the kid. After all, he was the son of two monstrous shinobi and the godson of another two.

'_But what do they have in common. Let's see, they don't look at me with disgusted faces, they don't whisper bad things about me, they talk to me, they accept me, wait- that's it!'_

"I…will protect every single person that accepts me…" Naruto said, looking at the sannin. He relaxed upon seeing a smile form on the man's face.

"Acceptance isn't that easy to earn, kid. Your father had to become Hokage to make people acknowledge him and-"

"Then I will become Hokage too!" The blonde boy yelled, startling Jiraiya.

"My dream is Hokage!" The boy had such determination on his face that Jiraiya couldn't help but start laughing.

"You… you're like your father, you know that? Ahahahaah that's Minato's son for you!"

Naruto started laughing too, not quite understanding why.

"Aha…ahahahaahahah!"

As the two were laughing, Tsunade approached and quite gently hugged the boy.

'_Just like those two… this kid has inherited their dreams.'_

"Naruto, I want you to have this." She said, handing the boy a jingling necklace.

"This is a very precious thing for me and I'm trusting you to look after it well."

Naruto nodded and let Tsunade hook the necklace.

"Not fair Tsunade, I'm still waiting to give him _my_ present."

For once, Tsunade decided to not chase Jiraiya and let him live, just for the sake of the wonderfulness of the moment.

"Here, kid."

_Thud_!

Naruto got up, looking at the heavy object in his hands that had caused his fall.

"That sword is the Uzumaki Clan's treasured item. It was passed down the clan for generations before the clan was wiped out completely and I managed to get my hands on it during my latest journey."

Naruto stared at the object in disbelief. The katana was black, at least its scabbard was, and he could see the delicate work on it. Sakura trees had been engraved on the guard and several petals on the scabbard, each had been carved in perfect harmony with the one next to it.

He decided to try to get the sword out of its scabbard and revealed a small bit of it, soon noticing the writing that had been engraved on the blade. He couldn't read though, so he had to ask Jiraiya.

"It says, '_He who fights like swirling flowers'."_

* * *

Naruto had fallen asleep soon after getting his last present and was safely tucked in bed. Kushina had somehow managed to convince Kakashi to spend the night and the teen was again hanging down the ceiling while reading his book. The only sane woman in the room, Shizune, was trying to convince the other two women to stop planning the severe beating Minato and Jiraiya would receive.

Said two people were outside, one sitting on a branch, and the other one leaning against its trunk.

"Hey Minato," Jiraiya said, catching his student's attention.

"Hm?"

"Most shinobi don't have an answer to the question I asked that kid but he just brushed it off as if it were a choice of clothes. He is no ordinary kid."

"Yeah, I realized it a while ago. He always had his firsts before normal children and he isn't at all like a three year old, I'd place him at least next to seven year olds intelligence wise. He is quite smart himself but it seems like the Kyuubi is helping him develop faster than normal."

"I figured that much. But you two are so similar really, the Hokage thing and all…"

"Haha, that's my son for you. But you sure are horrible, asking a three year old such a hard question…"

"I had to make sure, that's why. I watched him the whole day, Minato. The kid ran away without the guards noticing and he was in a very eye catching outfit. He met the clan heads and heirs without much courage but he somehow managed to grasp all their intentions and characteristics just by looking at them. He ran as fast as us with legs much shorter. He followed the sound of our footsteps on reflex and made his way to the living room before any other place. He solved that cube thing faster than the Nara kid, and last of all he answered that question."

"And what you mean is?" Minato asked. He didn't get what the sannin was saying at all, which was rather rare since he knew the white haired man too well.

"That kid is a natural born genius, he has shinobi reflexes. He doesn't think about what he is doing, he just goes according to his reflexes. He didn't know that he was following the noise we made while walking, he just did."

"Oh."

"Minato, I'm starting his training tomorrow." Jiraiya said, not glancing up the tree.

"Are you insane? Kushina would kill us!"

"I'm sure that we can reason with her, after all we all have a promise to fulfill, don't we?"

"…You're probably right."

"You know what truly amazed me Minato?"

"What?"

"That kid isn't afraid of Tsunade."

**So, how did you like it? I personally think it wasn't too bad, but I'd love to hear what YOU think. Review? Please?**

**By the way guys, vote on the poll that's on my profile. It's for later chapters and a bit of a spoiler but whatever, just do.**


	3. The Bastards Called Friends

**Hello guys! Terribly sorry for the late update, hope you'll forgive me. Before you misunderstand, I'm not a bitch that doesn't write when reviews don't flood (actually I'm quite satisfied) I'm just a student.**

**25BAM50: Thanks**

**AlexDnD: Yeah, exactly why I'm writing this story :D.**

**Leafstone: Thanks**

**Summer Love: Okay first, thank you. Second, it will definitely be SakuNaru although I don't know about InoSasu, and I'm sorry but Sasuke will be weaker thank Naruto, but I assure you, Naruto wont be some god-like ninja who can beat him with one finger. At least later I'll make that obvious.**

**Guest: Yeah, I thought that would be logical too. By the way, the next time you review, please leave me a name so that I can respond properly to you, like Summer Love did.**

**Paul Perkins: Thanks, it does help to plan thing, doesn't it? :D**

**xXAshishXx: Terribly sorry for the late chapter but I had too much homework. Hope you enjoy reading it.**

**Cursedsage95: I thought so too, I mean, why not keep Minato alive and let someone else seal the Kyuubi? *****Faceplams*******

**RINNESHARINGAN: Glad it served its purpose :D**

**L: Well, here's the next chapter.**

**Guest 2: Thank you! Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**Fanforfun: I know, me too!**

**VOTE ON THE POLL GUYS!**

_Thud!_

_His sword was knocked out of Naruto's hands as Minato deflected his blow with a kunai. Naruto fell down, he had bruises all over his body and it hurt like hell, a tear made its way down his cheek. He tried to stand up but everywhere in his body ached, so he looked at his father._

"_Naruto, get up." Minato said, not moving an inch. He didn't even bat an eyelash._

_The small boy tried to stand up but failed, he fell down a second time, another tear rolling down his cheek._

"_Get up, Naruto." Minato was still calm, he still hadn't stepped forward to help the boy and still had the emotionless expression._

_Naruto was in pain, he wasn't one to complain about the injuries he got during training most of the time but this was too much, his whole body was either covered in blood or had swollen purple spots. And no matter what he did, Minato wouldn't come to pick him up. He clearly couldn't stand with all the bruises, what was his father waiting for?_

_Wait, was Minato making fun of him?_

_Naruto gritted his teeth, he got hold of his sword and used it as support, slowly standing up. _

_Minato started walking towards his son, face still void of emotions. Naruto had regained his balance and was holding his sword in a defensive stance. Without a single word, Minato took his son's sword from his hands, sheathing it. He picked Naruto up gently and started walking, saying,_

"_That's enough training for today, Naruto. You did well."_

_Naruto still didn't understand though; if his father's plan had been picking him up from the start, why hadn't he done so earlier?_

"_Dad, why didn't you pick me up?" Naruto asked, leaning his head on Minato's arm. The boy couldn't see the smile on his father's face, screaming of guilt, but proud nonetheless._

"_If I had, you wouldn't have learned how to get up on your own."_

**EPIC TIME SKIP (2 YEARS)**

"Where's Neji?" Naruto asked. He and Shikamaru were lying on the grass under the nice shade of a tree, gazing at the clouds.

"I don't know, but that one's definitely a horse.''

"Dammit, it's not like Neji to be late for training. Besides, that cloud's most definitely a chair."

"Horse."

"Chair."

"Horse."

"Chair."

"Tomato."

"Chair."

"What the hell Naruto? That wasn't me." Shikamaru almost shouted, getting up and looking around frantically, clearly free of the lazy attitude.

"I _know_, Shikamaru. I think I'd recognize your voice. And if you're looking for the source, he's been sitting above us for quite some time now."

"Oh." Shikamaru said before sitting down, waiting for the uninvited guest to jump off the tree they were under. If Naruto had sensed him and done nothing to expose him, then he probably wasn't a threat.

The two watched carelessly as a black haired boy jumped off the branch that was just above them and they continued lying and looking at clouds with the same carelessness, not really caring about the stranger.

"Are you Namikaze Naruto?"

"The one and only. Shikamaru, maybe we really should look for Neji."

The raven-haired boy was about to snap. What were these two thinking, avoiding someone as _important_ as him?

"Too troublesome."

"Meh, you're right. He's probably on the way anyways."

"HEY YOU TWO! I'M TALKING TO YOU!"

Naruto sat back, leaning against the tree. Shikamaru was still as unmoving as a rock though.

"What do you want?" Naruto asked, still looking up at the clouds, not even glancing at the "probably spoiled brat" who stood not too far away from him. Shikamaru still hadn't bothered to move.

"I want to spar with you."

Naruto couldn't respond, as he was cracking up. No one except Neji had asked him to spar for a while, he could even see Shikamaru hold back a laugh.

"Unfortunately for you, I'm waiting for a friend of mine. We can if you still want to tomorrow." Naruto thought the answer sufficient and went back to lying on grass. The black haired boy was far from pleased though.

Who was this damn blonde thinking he was, refusing to spar with the _great_ Sasuke Uchiha?

"I probably should have guessed that you would run away, I would expect no less from the friend of a lazy ass and a branch house bastard."

Naruto literally disappeared in a yellow flash…

…Before appearing in front of Sasuke and punching the boy with strength no one would've expected, making him fly away and land on the ground with a loud thud. The boy couldn't even find the time to get back on his feet, as Naruto quite roughly grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up. That was when Sasuke finally noticed the weird kunai stuck in the ground near him. When had the blonde even thrown it?

Sasuke felt himself being lifted further into the air, so, shifting his gaze, he looked at the boy who had already defeated him and couldn't help himself from wondering how exactly the boy had the strength to lift him up, they were probably the same in weight.

"Taijutsu match, no ninjutsu, genjutsu or weapons."

Sasuke was thrown away like a ball after that, wondering just how the boy could be stronger than him. As far as he knew, they were the same age, the blonde was even a few months younger than him, and here he was, throwing him away as if he were as light as a pencil. He even remembered attending the boy's birthday ceremony and, although it was a very faint memory for him, he hadn't seemed strong back then.

Unlike Sasuke, Naruto remembered the day fairly well and he knew, for a fact, that the time to avoid this Sasuke person was slowly but surely approaching, the arrogant Uchiha had already asked him to spar, quite egoistically dare Naruto add, had somehow found the courage to talk to his friends in a very rude manner in his presence, and the boy wasn't letting him get away with it. Ooh, the young Uchiha was asking for it.

Naruto was waiting for Sasuke to attack, while said boy was busy examining him in every way.

Just then, a huffing Neji appeared in his training clothes, followed closely by a tired Hinata clad in a kimono, a bored Kiba, and soon enough, an equally tired Ino and an unknown pinkette with a pretty ribbon. Neji then headed for a still unmoving Shikamaru and whacked him on the head.

"Are you stupid, why did you let him get in a fight?"

"Because trying to stop him would have been too troublesome. Besides, aren't you the one who is late in the first place?" Shikamaru quite carelessly asked, finally standing.

"W-well, Hinata-sama wanted to tag along and then we came across Ino and Sakura on the way and- wait, what got Naruto to fight in the first place?"

Neji's mind was suddenly occupied with a ridiculous scenario, in which Naruto's opponent had tried to kidnap Hinata and his blonde friend had stepped in, not letting him get to the Hyuga compound, heroically battling him. How very far from the truth he was.

"He called me a lazy ass and you a branch house bastard."

Shikamaru's frankness wasn't really helping, as Neji's eyes were lit on fire and he was struggling to keep himself from going and beating the boy himself, although he knew that Naruto's capable hands were a much worse fate than being beaten by him.

Although the conclusion of the Hyuga Affair had changed Neji, he was still desperate to prove himself worthy. Given, he didn't hate anyone from the main house anymore, but he was still ridiculously obsessed with the idea of surpassing the main family. Even Naruto, who was mostly good with persuading people, had tried and failed to change his opinion.

Kiba, who had been listening, decided to voice his thoughts.

"That kid's dead."

Neji, Ino and Shikamaru nodded, Hinata gulped and the pinkette stood, watching the boys examine each other and wait for an opening.

Kiba was one of the unfortunate few who had asked Naruto for a spar. The boy had nearly chopped him in half, and Kiba had barely managed to lay a finger on him. The very thing he regretted was laying a finger on him in the first place.

Although Naruto knew the clan heirs fairly well and would occasionally visit them, Kiba had recently joined the group, after his fight with Naruto, and had asked Naruto for a spar purely of self-confidence, not because he knew the boy or his level of strength. As he didn't know the blonde, he couldn't have possibly guessed that Naruto had a way to beat enemies by letting them hit him.

The blonde preferred to call it the "Double Edged Sword" technique.

Neji looked on indifferently as Sasuke took an offensive stance and Shikamaru would've went back to lying down if not for the insignia on Sasuke's clothes.

"Ooh, seems like he is an Uchiha." He said, earning confused glances from everyone except Neji. Unexpectedly, Hinata came up with a rather important question,

"Do you think he'll use that technique, brother Neji?"

Neji looked at Hinata, saying,

"He shouldn't, the technique isn't complete yet, but he might do that, he looks angry."

They all knew, hell, everyone in Konoha did, that Naruto wasn't one to get angry often and he certainly wasn't one to risk making angry.

Hinata gulped again as Sasuke charged.

Kiba, Neji and Shikamaru instantly understood that Naruto didn't want to use the incomplete technique when the blonde dodged Sasuke's attack, gripped his foot that was still in the air from the kick he had just delivered, and, quite skillfully, _threw_ the boy away.

"So he won't, that's good." Ino mumbled. The pinkette was still staring, stunned.

Sasuke got up, still a bit shaken, and finally understood that his opponent wasn't one to think lightly of. He thought for a moment but was met with a punch from Naruto that was aimed at his face. He ducked and took advantage of the boy's lost balance, trying a high roundhouse kick on him.

Naruto, however, had no intention of taking the blow. He purposefully sidestepped and fell on his back, attacking Sasuke with a kick to the knee, almost making him fall down. The blonde used the extra time it took for Sasuke to regain his balance and got up.

The two boys were again facing each other and the girls were watching with awestruck faces, while the other boys, even Kiba, looked as still as trees could ever hope to be.

"Why isn't Naruto getting serious?" he finally asked.

"Simple, that idiot is too lazy." Neji answered.

"And it's too troublesome." Shikamaru added.

"Besides, it's not like he is holding back or anything. He just isn't attacking. Know the difference." Neji indifferently stated, having known Naruto for almost three years, he was sure that the boy would never go easy on an opponent.

Sasuke again took his offensive stance and made a lunge at Naruto, fist extended. Naruto simply countered the attack with his palm and what had started as a fight of cunningness suddenly turned into a heated Taijutsu match that was mainly focused on punches.

Naruto decided to get competent and started to slowly push Sasuke away by putting more strength into countering his attacks. When he was finally satisfied with the distance he had put between himself and Sasuke, Naruto threw Sasuke off balance with a sidekick and, while he still had the chance, threw a hook to the chin.

What he didn't know was that Sasuke had foreseen his actions.

Sasuke dropped on the ground and attempted a low roundhouse kick but Naruto thought quickly and jumped, landing a meter away, his back against Sasuke.

_There's my chance! _Sasuke thought and got up with incredible speed, prepared a punch, aiming for Naruto's neck. Although he was alarmed by the lack of movement from the boy, he put his remaining energy into getting the punch right, which would probably be enough to knock the blonde out.

He was about come in contact with Naruto's skin when he felt a sharp pang making its way through his right arm. Sasuke was forced to stop and release his fist, as the pain was too much for him to handle. That was the exact moment Naruto struck with an axe kick right across the Uchiha's forehead, hitting Sasuke quite forcefully and making him lie on the ground.

"H-he did use the technique in the end." Was all Neji could say before he noticed his friend's angry expression. He rushed to his side to help him calm down. But not with comforting words, no.

"You _idiot_, what were you thinking, using such a dangerous technique?"

Neji tensed up when he saw the merciless expression on Naruto's face. For a moment, he thought he even saw the blonde's normally azure blue eyes turn red. Blood red.

However a second later, Naruto had returned to his usually calm and fun demeanor, as if he hadn't given Neji the terrifyingly dark look.

"Sorry. I tried to control myself, I really did, but hey, he was the one who came and asked for a spar. And he insulted you Neji, do you actually think I'd let him go?"

That was when Sasuke came to his senses, opening his eyes and looking around. He brought his hand to his now swollen forehead and noticed that his right arm was still a bit numb. It didn't take much time before Naruto noticed that he was awake and walked towards him.

"Hey, are you okay?" was what Naruto asked. Sasuke nodded, not looking at him.

"Good. That was one nasty way to say hello, wasn't it?" Naruto flashed a brief smile and Sasuke almost returned it. However, he couldn't, as Naruto's expression turned grave and his smile faded.

"Treat my friends like that, I kill you. But earn my respect, you're my friend." Sasuke looked at him, waiting for a conclusion.

"And you did earn my respect." Sasuke's eyes widened, he looked at the now smiling boy incredulously for some time before Naruto finally decided to break the tension.

"Hello, my name is Namikaze Naruto. What's yours?" he extended his hand, offering to help Sasuke stand. Said boy smiled very briefly before getting up, supported by Naruto.

"Sasuke Uchiha."

Naruto nodded, saying,

"Nice to meet you then."

He only got an "hn" as response from the boy.

"Well, quite an impressive technique that was."

Naruto immediately turned around to look at the source of the voice, surprised that he hadn't sensed the person. He relaxed upon seeing who the intruder was, although he kept his guard up.

"What a surprise it is to see you here, Itachi Uchiha." He said, earning himself an almost inexistent smirk from the boy.

"It's an honour to see you again, Namikaze-san." He said, monotone.

"The same goes for me."

Meanwhile Sasuke was staring at the two disbelievingly. He didn't want his brother to know about the match, he had lost after all.

"In any case Namikaze-san, I guess I must thank you for teaching my little brother a lesson."

Sasuke was even more upset than he was before; he thought his brother would be disappointed. Hell, he himself was! But for Sasuke, it was the worst possible thing, he wanted acknowledgement from his brother no matter what and letting him down in any way was out of question.

"I only advised him, it's up to him to follow the advice or not."

"Either way, he needed it. I hope to see you soon." Itachi said, giving Naruto a small bow of his head, which the blonde returned, equally respectful.

"Let's go, Sasuke."

Naruto and the rest watched as Sasuke walked towards his brother, and the two soon disappeared into the trees.

"THAT WAS AWESOME!" Ino screamed as soon as they were gone, running towards Naruto and clinging on him, saying,

"YOU TWO ARE SO COOL!" Naruto just chuckled.

Kiba and Shikamaru soon made their appearances, the two each giving a nod to Naruto and Kiba yelling,

"Take it serious for once you dumbass!"

Hinata was behind Neji, looking at Naruto shyly and hiding almost her whole figure. Her cousin didn't stand where he was though, he came forward with speed that would make the Yellow Flash himself proud and smacked Naruto on the head in a similar fashion to what he had done to Shikamaru.

"What was that for!?"

"For using an incomplete technique."

"I used it when I fought Kiba too!"

"That was then and this is now."

Naruto sighed. Neji was co-creator of the Double Edged Sword technique and Naruto knew that he wouldn't have figured out how to put the methods in use if not for his Byakugan, which was why Naruto decided to let Neji scold him freely.

Kiba and Shikamaru were just arguing over clouds when Ino noticed the pinkette, still under the tree.

"Oh right! Sakura, come over here!"

Neji was finished giving Naruto an earful when he heard Ino call Sakura so both boys turned their heads to look at the pinkette. It seemed like even Shikamaru and Kiba had noticed.

Once Sakura was next to Ino, a wave of shock spread over Naruto. This wasn't just any pinkette. It was _the_ pinkette! The one he had called ugly. Naruto face-palmed. He had realized how rude he had acted after some time and, as weird as it sounded, he hadn't forgotten the girl for the last two years.

'_It isn't like she isn't pretty,'_ Naruto thought, _'her hair hides her face and makes her look like that'_

Naruto noticed that Sakura's hair was up; a ribbon was holding the pink locks away from her cute face and large forehead. The girl's green eyes were shining, but with what, Naruto couldn't tell.

"Naruto, this is Haruno Sakura. Sakura, Namikaze Naruto." Ino introduced, she had already introduced Sakura to the rest of her friends but, for some reason, the pinkette had specifically wanted to meet Naruto.

"N-nice to meet you." Naruto said. Sakura blushed.

"You look pretty."

* * *

"Brother, what did you mean when you said 'quite an interesting technique'?"

Itachi and Sasuke were in their living room, it was nearing nighttime and the older Uchiha sibling had started going over some scrolls a while ago.

"Did he hit you to make your arm ache Sasuke?"

"No."

"That's what I meant."

Sasuke didn't understand. First, he had challenged a boy he thought was weaker than him and lost; said boy hadn't even used his arms or legs to beat him, next he had been picked up by his brother and now they were sitting together, Sasuke practicing writing and Itachi going over some complicated jutsu scrolls. Normally, this very situation would've been bliss for Sasuke whereas now, each time he looked at his brother he couldn't help but wonder if he felt disappointed in him.

"How did he do that?" Sasuke asked, as he wanted to make sure he'd beat Naruto the next time.

Itachi sighed as he put his brush down, he didn't really want to stop reading and writing about the jutsu but he thought this one time could be compensation for never having enough time for Sasuke.

"What he did was make a blade of chakra and as soon as you were close enough, your hand and the rest of your arm crashed into it. That's where all the pain you felt came from."

Sasuke let go of all his smugness for a few seconds, the feeling quickly being replaced by amazement. The blonde was his age and he could execute a technique as hard as that.

"However, the technique requires excellent chakra control and vast amounts of chakra since gathering chakra in one place is quite hard with even an average reserve."

The smaller Uchiha's eyes widened at this.

"Brother, doesn't using chakra mean that he's using ninjutsu?"

Itachi shook his head, making whatever thought his little brother had of Naruto cheating disappear.

"He didn't use any hand seals and there's no rule that states that one cannot use chakra with Taijutsu."

"Then isn't he invincible?" a very miserable Sasuke asked, pouting.

"No, he can't use the technique in fast or challenging fights because he has to lure you in before he can execute it and it probably needs a high level of concentration that cannot be summed during risky moments."

Itachi returned to his work, thinking that he had talked enough for a day.

Sasuke took the information in rather slowly. In short, his brother was saying that the blonde had managed to use this technique because he wasn't fast or challenging enough, he had been lured in quickly, given the time he needed to gather concentration and hadn't given him a risky fight.

Then it all dawned on Sasuke.

He hadn't landed a single blow on Naruto.

**TIME SKIP (5 MONTHS)**

"Look for an opening, Sasuke." Itachi said, standing on the highest branch of a tree, watching his little brother train with Naruto.

Sasuke tried a right hook but Naruto caught his hand and within seconds he crashed into the tree Itachi was on.

"Naruto, chakra control."

The blonde looked apologetically at the Uchiha siblings, helping Sasuke get up. Itachi had been teaching him how to use chakra enhanced attacks and, Naruto admitted, he was no good. His own technique had a purpose to it; since it required a large amount of chakra, his horrible chakra control wasn't too much of an issue, however chakra enhanced attacks were completely different.

Itachi had taken an interest in Naruto's abilities after his "spar" with Sasuke and to Sasuke's disappointment, had started to help him train. The Uchiha didn't know why, the boy just had some kind of weird charm and he reminded Itachi a bit of himself. But, Itachi could tell that the boy had started changing him. Itachi Uchiha had never been one to teach; he hadn't even taught his little brother, but Naruto had crushed whatever opinion the raven had of himself.

Sasuke on the other had felt disappointed when his brother had first started to train Naruto. Sasuke was Itachi's own brother and the older Uchiha had chosen not to teach him but a stranger. Sasuke had tried everything to make Naruto annoyed, every type of witticism, every type of arrogant attitude, but the boy just hadn't left. Later though, Sasuke had decided that Naruto could be "one of those things they call friends" and, since the blonde was working with Itachi and he had permission to join them, he had come to a mathematical conclusion.

Half Itachi is better than none.

And so Sasuke had started to _share_ his brother with the blonde loudmouthed idiot, who had become his only friend.

"I'll get it this time! Believe it!"

"No you won't, dobe."

"As if you can do it yourself, teme!"

"Tch."

"Just watch me."

Naruto started gathering chakra, concentrating it in his arm.

"Naruto."

He didn't pay attention.

"Naruto."

He was still too focused on gathering chakra.

"Naruto."

"WHAT!"

Naruto hadn't realized that the voice was Itachi's until he saw a dark expression appear on his face.

"Wait no I didn't mean it-"

"Enough training for today. Your friend's here."

And with that Itachi left, leaving behind an amused Sasuke muffling his laugh and a sighing Naruto.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Teme…"

And the two started laughing together, completely forgetting about the friend Itachi had talked about. After all, making Itachi Uchiha angry wasn't an easy feat.

"You two, I've brought lunch."

Said two boys stopped laughing, looking at Sakura and the basket in her hands.

* * *

"Will you be coming over?" Sasuke asked, munching on his sandwich.

"Isn't it your turn?"

Sakura was busy emptying the basket, taking the apples and juice out. She often brought the boys lunch around noon and was used to their usual bickering. The pinkette sighed, looking at her two friends, bruised and sweaty, and wondered when she'd start training to be a kunoichi. Her mother wasn't allowing her yet and she openly admitted that she was a little bit afraid to become a ninja.

By that she meant _a lot_.

"I'll be over for dinner then."

"Tell you what, it's already past noon so why don't you come with me and we'll go spend time with Shikamaru and Neji."

"I… no. Let's train."

"Why don't we have fun for once?"

"Because I learned a new Taijutsu stance."

Naruto's eyes shone.

"Deal."

Still, the boys fascinated her every time she watched them train. Naruto was a skillful sword user and Sasuke was extremely good with chakra control, thanks to the excessive amount of lessons Naruto received from Itachi about the topic, and one could easily say that both were exceptional children.

But only one of them had the nickname "Konoha's New Prodigy."

Said prodigy was Namikaze Naruto, the cheerful and seemingly stupid blonde who was currently chomping on his own sandwich. Sakura didn't know exactly what but everything seemed weird about him. He was years ahead of his age and although everyone in Konoha knew his name and level, it all appeared to be too perfect. The boy himself seemed like a living anomaly.

Sakura wasn't that dumb herself; she could see how Sasuke acted around Naruto. The Uchiha tried not to show it but to anyone who searched for them, his feelings were visible, Sasuke felt like a shadow to Naruto and Itachi.

Itachi had always been Sasuke's role model; the boy had done everything he could think of to spend time with his brother, but Itachi had avoided him for some reason and Sasuke had tried to understand it all, Itachi was after all a chunin and had things to do. What had changed it all was Naruto's coming into their life, his brother had started teaching the blonde and Sasuke had felt useless for quite some time until getting used to Naruto's carefree attitude.

That wasn't it all for Sasuke, he wasn't stupid either; he knew that Naruto was stronger than him, although it was hard to admit. Naruto was probably as good as Itachi had been when he was his age and this only served to tell Sasuke that he wasn't good enough. The mere presence of the blonde was enough to remind him of the fact and Sakura thought that he was amazing for having such feelings and being able to continue being friends with Naruto.

Sasuke had his own style and Sakura truly liked him for staying strong.

Naruto on the other hand was more like a dummy she practiced punches on.

"Thanks for the meal, Sakura-chan." Naruto said, standing up. Sasuke soon did the same, smirking.

"Would you like to stay and see the dobe fail again?"

"SHUT UP TEME!"

"Tch."

* * *

A very angry Kushina greeted Sasuke and Naruto.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHAT TIME IT IS NARUTO?"

"Uh, w- we were training mum."

"You could've told me."

"I'm-"

"I'm terribly sorry auntie Kushina, I dragged Naruto into my training when he suggested going home so it was entirely my fault."

Naruto was always fascinated by Sasuke's cleverness; he was the only one known to have tricked Kushina.

"Naruto, you should be more like Sasuke, he's so responsible."

Naruto just face-palmed.

* * *

The Namikaze family and Sasuke sat down to eat dinner, Sasuke was used to it, having already come over for lots of times.

"How was your training?" Minato asked his son, looking at Kushina and somehow reading her expression.

'_He trains too much.'_

Kushina was worrying, Naruto was just 5 years old and he wasn't at all going easy on himself, the boy was always either training or reading (slowly, since he barely knew how to) jutsu scrolls and, although he didn't flash everywhere like Minato did, he still used the flash kunai and tags a lot. Kushina didn't want her son to grow up too early, the world of ninja wasn't really some fairytale and the earlier one joined reality, the higher his chances of getting lost in it were.

"It was fine. I think I finally got chakra enhanced attacks."

Minato almost gaped at Naruto's words. Chakra enhanced strength…at age 5? What was Itachi making him do?

"Naruto, don't you think you should…relax a bit?"

"I am relaxing nowadays, I'm training for 5 hours only."

Minato sweatdropped.

The young Hokage thought he heard some rustling coming from outside the house and was about to inform his wife about it when suddenly he was surrounded by fifteen ninjas.

Before he could even blink five swords, six kunais and a few shurikens were aimed at him. Minato wasn't Hokage for nothing though, he flashed outside the kitchen and ran inside, to be met with a very alarming sight.

Kushina was battling ten shinobi at once, Naruto and Sasuke were surrounded by six other ninjas, back to back, and roughly fifteen more were forming a barricade between him and his family. Minato didn't know what the purpose of the attack was, and he certainly didn't have time to think.

The shinobi that were not occupied attacked and Minato took his spare flash kunai out of his pocket, throwing it around like crazy, rapidly performing jutsu and attacking his enemies without even looking at them.

Minato was almost finished when he got the opportunity to look at Kushina; she was battling one on one with someone and judging by the expression of ease on her face, was winning.

Then it hit Minato.

'_Shit! Where are the kids?'_

But when the last of the intruders went down, all that could be seen at where Naruto and Sasuke once stood was a Kumogakure forehead protector.

**Okay guys, that's sort of a cliffy there isn't it? Well anyways, I wasn't **_**that**_** satisfied with this chapter and I think I'll find lots of spelling/grammar/ punctuation etc. mistakes when I proofread it tomorrow.**

**I'd love to know what you think though. *sighs***


	4. Crimson Moments

**Hello guys! It's Sophia here! Now, I'm sure that most of you will accuse me of being a bitch for not updating, but I've got some news to share with all of you. As a married last year college student, I am faced with the grave problem of children. Yup, I'm having babies. Two of them, and in about five months. So, me and my hubby, who's been working as a brain surgeon for two years now, have been busy preparing for our two little ones, and frantic I tell you. Well, regardless, now that we have most of what's needed done,**

**GET READY FOR UPDATING MODE: SUPER FAST.**

**Kail Blade: Kushina is a difficult character to write for me. I tried to not make her so bitchy in this chapter. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the progress.**

**25BAM50: Thanks!**

**Ashish: Thank you very much!**

**Achilles: LOL, I don't know either XD. We'll wait and see if you like it or not.**

**Guest: Yeah, I'm working on that.**

**Guest: Here's the update!**

**Summerlove: well, they will be so, at least until… well; I'll let you find that out yourself. Also, I'm putting up a poll for Sasuke's pairing. Go vote!**

**AlexanderTheNightKing: thank you very much!**

**FOXJ NS 4EVER: A long review that was, long but very helpful. Thank you very much for your kind compliments and concern. I'd love to hear what you think of the story after this chapter, since I think you are one of those readers that have the critical eye. Nevertheless, read and enjoy!**

**Stratos263: read and find out my friend.**

**Anyways, on with the story.**

KUMOGAKURE, November 14th

Naruto woke up in pain, coughing. He felt like all his ribs had been crushed, every single muscle and bone in his body ached. His clothes were ripped- oh and, was he seeing blood? The boy was used to the feeling, he'd usually get it after training with his father, and so it didn't really have a meaning for him. The burning of his muscles, the pressure on his lungs… yes he was all too used to the feeling to actually have a doubt or complaint about it.

Until the last memories he had of himself came rushing in.

Frantically, Naruto took his surroundings in; he was in a dimly lit room, there were no windows for the sun to shine in, the only light was coming from some little source on the other side of the cell, located on a wall, which Naruto assumed was a candle. The blond found his hands tied, his feet in the same situation, and he could barely see the bruised figure of Sasuke lying on the floor, seemingly lifeless to anyone who didn't search desperately for his heartbeat or the slight rising and falling of his chest. He looked worse, Naruto could tell, after all, having the Kyuubi in your body helped.

Sasuke was alive, and although not all that okay, probably just unconscious, which Naruto thanked Kami for.

Out of care, Naruto instinctively crawled towards Sasuke and tried to wake him, which proved to be quite difficult. The boy couldn't complain though, for he knew that without the Kyuubi, his situation probably would've been the same, or maybe a little better because of his ridiculous healing factor.

"Sasuke. Sasuke. Sasuke Uchiha. Wake up."

Sasuke didn't wake up though, which forced Naruto to use different methods. Injured or not, they were training to be shinobi and a carelessly sleeping shinobi was a potentially dead shinobi.

"Hey idiot teme? Get up."

_Perhaps a different approach…_

"Wake up, oh the mighty prodigy of Konoha, and help me with your awesome ninja skills and intelligence."

Sasuke immediately opened his eyes, a warm pair of blue orbs filling with relief as he did so.

"What the hell? Where are we?" the Uchiha asked after two brief seconds of looking around, which pushed Naruto into questioning whether Sasuke had been sleeping or if he had really fainted. Well, Naruto couldn't say that the bastard wouldn't do it.

"Probably Kumogakure."

He said, trying to intensify his gaze and work out a way to get out by observing the place. Naruto was known to be a fairly good observer when it came to him getting serious. Really, his eyes were almost as good as telescopes thanks to Kurama and the boy needed to observe everything due to the constant hate he received from the villagers. Although he was the son of the Hokage, the blond was never welcome. The villagers saw him as no one, except sometimes as the Kyuubi, but Naruto was taking advantage of his position as an empty chair to observe their moves and work out dozens of different ways to put them in trouble, or get away from them if they were a person to be left alone, who would then be added on his prank list.

They never looked at him, but he always looked at them.

Weird methods or not, they worked, and according to Jiraiya's book of rules, all was fine if they did. Besides, the perv didn't take as much pleasure as he supposed he would from training the small Namikaze, since there was no challenge in it, so he'd mostly let Naruto develop his own way of doing things when he couldn't do it the classical way, laughing at him when he messed up, laughing when he got it all nice and fine, but still dreaming of the days when he'd be able to teach the boy advanced techniques.

Still, one thing the overly perverted sage had not laughed at was Naruto's observation skills, thanks to the furball living in his gut and giving him the opportunity to see with almost inhumanly exact sight when he truly needed it.

_Hey Kurama, you there?_

_**No kit, I'm out, call again when I'm back.**_

_As much as I want to have a delightful chat with you and listen to your brilliant jokes, I have much more pressing matters to deal with. Enhanced sight?_

_**Working on it. Are your injuries any better?**_

_Yeah, thanks for that. Right then, I need to get us out of this place._

"How do you know?" Sasuke asked not out of curiosity but irritation. Did the boy _always_ know _everything_? Did he _have_ to? And there was another grand question. _How_ did a boy like him, a five year old, know so much? Sasuke didn't know Naruto as well as Neji or Shikamaru did, he admitted it openly, but this didn't change the fact that, in all the times he had spent with Naruto, there had never been more than countable mistakes coming from said blond, which Sasuke found admirable and frustrating at the same time, as Naruto was just a small kid, very much like himself.

The Uchiha was sure that if he ever decided to think about another matter as much as he did about Naruto's ridiculous intelligence, he would be remembered as a philosopher rather than a shinobi.

"Perhaps because of the symbol on the wall. " Naruto said, observing the place more closely with his now enhanced vision, finally able to identify the small light source as a candle, and noticing the gigantic Kumo symbol engraved on the wall. His guess had been correct; after all, it was inevitable that Kumo would want to exact revenge after the Hyuga affair.

Sasuke frowned, searching for the symbol on the wall, but his eyes weren't able to see anything, as it was dark, making him even more frustrated than he already was.

"Either way Sasuke, I have my sword with me so wait for a few seconds before I cut the ropes."

Naruto tried to reach for the scroll in his pocket but found it impossible as his hands had been tied at his back. He'd have to take help from Sasuke.

* * *

KONOHAGAKURE, November 13th

"Minato, the kids…" Kushina trailed off, shaking, but with what, Minato couldn't tell. Sadness, or anger?

The young Hokage clenched his fists, drawing blood. His son had been kidnapped because he had underestimated his enemies and not fought at full power. Minato knew that it was his responsibility to get the two back, not only as a father or an _uncle_, but as the Hokage too. Besides, it was never in his book to lose, even if it took his life, the Yellow Flash was to win this battle.

"Kushina, get a hold of yourself. We'll get Naruto back, I promise."

Minato wiped a tear flowing down Kushina's cheek. The redhead blinked a few times, her sensible shinobi side taking over again, fueled by her maternal instincts. In her eyes were flames, flames that were impossible to extinguish. Minato was surprised upon seeing Kushina as the Scarlet Demon she was once again, a side of Kushina he hadn't encountered since Naruto's birth.

"I'm going to wipe those bastards off the face of earth."

A small smile graced the blonde Hokage's lips.

"They'll be sorry to have ever made us their enemies."

"You find Jiraiya, Hiashi, Hizashi and Shikaku. I'll go inform Mikoto and Fugaku. I'll also get Tsunade-nee."

The two ran as fast as they could, only when they were outside did Kushina notice something very important.

"And Minato," she said,

"Put those ridiculous kunais and tags you've got into use for once. Permission fully granted."

Minato disappeared in a yellow flash and Kushina shunshined, both picking the needed people in incredible speed.

Soon, a team of incredibly dangerous ninja and ANBU guards were running like mad through the forests. A normal shinobi team would reach Kumogakure in two days at best.

But come on now.

This was the team of _the_ Yellow Flash.

* * *

KUMOGAKURE. November 14th

"Almost done…" Naruto said as he struggled to move his tied hands and cut the rope that was binding his friend. He had somehow managed to get his sword between Sasuke's back and his two bonded hands, moving his hands carefully to not cut the boy, at the same time working plans in his mind that would get them out of the dreaded place.

Naruto was clever, that was a given, and he could even be considered a master of observation. The boy always calculated the amount of strength he had to put in something, how fast he had to be or how many hits were needed to take someone down, all done instinctively. The blond could even see through disguises, he was very watchful, even cautious. However when it came to acts that needed less martial art and more handcrafts…

Then Naruto was just as useful as a penguin holding scissors with its flippers.

_Thud!_

The sword and the pieces of rope fell on the floor as Sasuke was freed. With a sigh of relief, Naruto watched the raven rub his swollen wrists and take the sword, cutting the ropes binding his feet. As soon as Sasuke was done, he walked over to where Naruto was and helped him get rid of the ropes too. Naruto was surprised, however, by the fact that the bonds were not chakra draining type. There were no guards outside the cage either, which led Naruto into thinking that they were being overly underestimated.

Ooh, he would show them that they we`re not to be thought lowly of. After all, training with Itachi Uchiha really helped.

"Sasuke," Naruto said, still observing the place,

"Something is off about this place. Outside must be filled with many guards if there are none here and if we want to get out, we have to be a _team_, not individually strong people. Those people outside are probably chunin level already."

Sasuke knew that Naruto was right although his pride made it hard to admit it. The Uchiha thought of Naruto as a friend, but regardless, a friend was a rival too. Although Sasuke was unaware of it because of his infamously low emotional understanding, Naruto wasn't, Sasuke was making the idea of surpassing Naruto and Itachi into some sort of sick obsession inside, something that severely lowered any chance the two had of working as a team when released.

The Uchiha wasn't that stupid though. He was fond of Naruto, so he could turn his back to him without a second thought, he could fight back to back with the blond. And Sasuke Uchiha wasn't one to mix business with emotions, even if he was unaware of having them.

"Tch. Dobe." He said, not looking at Naruto, but smiling nevertheless.

"I love your sense of humor." The blond mocked, smiling himself.

Taking advantage of their small bodies, the two slid out of the cage through the bars, walking towards the door, just standing there and waiting for the other to decide to open it. Naruto firmly gripped his sword as he was considering the option of letting Sasuke escape and deal with the ninjas alone. Sasuke had no plan of that sort in his mind though, either both were escaping or neither were.

"Have you got any weapons with you?"

"No."

Naruto tossed Sasuke a weapon pouch that he had been carrying in his scroll.

_Kurama!_

_**What is it now?**_

_Could I ask of another favour?_

…_**You're going to play tag with me for a month when this is over.**_

_Deal._

_**Right then, chakra reserves, senses, strength, speed and healing.**_

_That's why you're my favourite demon fox._

_**How many do you know anyways?**_

"Right then," Naruto said, reaching for the doorknob,

"It was a pleasure knowing you."

* * *

Near KUMOGAKURE, November 14th

"Sensei, when will we get to Kumo if we continue with this speed?" Kakashi asked, trying to catch Minato's attention. Said blond was furious, constructing many colourful plans of massacres that he could carry out, and running so fast that Kakashi was literally ready to drop from just trying to catch up to him. Next to him was Kushina, who wasn't having the slightest bit of trouble keeping up, displaying the legendary stamina of the Uzumaki Clan. Although not known commonly, the Uzumaki had their very own kekkei genkai, which could basically be described as incredibly fast regeneration, automatically making them hyperactive, stamina freaks, and indestructible cockroaches.

Really, the clan had had a lot more influence than their current status when Uzishiogakure had still existed, but even now, with only two known members of the clan left, they were known to be ruthless warriors, some describing them as the Scarlet Demons. Their quality had stemmed from the fact that they literally could not die like normal people, the Uzumaki were known for living through many life-threatening situations, such as the Kyuubi extraction. In short, it would take triple the amount of effort to kill one of the cockroach clan than a normal shinobi.

Their kekkei genkai was feared indeed, but not as much as the Namikaze. The yellow clan was said to move as fast as thunder, one short blink would be enough to send you to Kami's side when fighting these monsters. Of course, a kekkei genkai wasn't the cause of the Namikazes' power or speed, right? So kept thinking the civillians of Konohagakure, blindfolding themselves. The Namikaze were a secret clan, they weren't living their lives as openly as the Hyuga, neither as brutally as the Uzumaki, nor as extravagantly as the Uchiha. They were different. The world around them was.

The Namikaze members were never known to society at all. Only the clan head and heir were known, nothing more, not their techniques, members or base of operations. Despite this, it was known to Konoha that these people were amongst them, as the Namikaze clan was one of the elite, with as much members as the total civillians of a small hidden village. They had hidden themselves well; no one had been able to leak out a single bit of information for the past years that they had been present, which had been fueled by their loyalty to their head and later had been stabilized when Minato had achieved his mastery in fuuin jutsu.

And here we are, talking about the kekkei genkai of a clan, which we don't know the members of.

One thing was certain though; the Uzumaki and Namikaze were both feared, not only by their current home village, Konoha, but also the whole Elemental Nations. One of the two clans was known for their speed and power, the other for stamina and recovery. Together, they could be considered almost invincible.

Well, neither Minato nor Kushina were called the Yellow Flash and The Red Hot Habanero for nothing. Put them together, and you'd get Naruto, who wasn't at all behind expectations. But, being both a Namikaze and an Uzumaki had its own disadvantages, like the problem they were facing right now.

And it had to be solved.

In short guys, the reason for the dreadfully long speech I just gave you over here was to explain just what the consequences would be if Naruto was not found. Two powerful clans losing their heir, one of them almost extinct, would be disastrous for Konoha and its shinobi, as the manhunt would not end and would eventually result in Konoha having more ninjas out on missions than inside the village, lowering the defenses and leaving the village open for attacks.

Oh, and then there was the issue with the Uchiha. They were no clan to make fun of either, hell, they were one of the noble clans of Konoha, automatically dispelling any thought one could even have of handing Sasuke Uchiha over to Kumo, for although he was not the clan heir, the boy still was the son of the clan head and the last thing possible would be losing him, which Minato was thankful for, as he was free of the pressure that the Council could've put on him about the matter.

In short, the children were to be found, even if drastic measures were needed.

"In about half an hour at most."

That was the last meaningful thought Minato managed to produce as a second later a loud explosion was heard, coming from the east. Now, if Minato knew his son for at least a tiny bit, then he definitely had found where the boy was. The blond sighed, thanking Kami. That was his son indeed.

"Minato that's..." But Kushina never managed to finish her sentence. Minato and his flash kunais were back in business.

"Sensei, Tsunade, take care of the diplomacy. Hiashi, Hizashi, you're in charge of the group. Fugaku, the ANBU. Kakashi," he shot him a meaningful look,

"Try to keep Kushina away from action."

Kushina huffed, exasperated, but didn't say anything as Minato threw his kunai with incredible speed and disappeared into the trees. Besides, she trusted Minato. Normally, she would've darted out immediately to save her baby, but she knew that Minato was more than enough for the job. She was in charge of finding that sorry excuse of a Raikage and giving the bastard a beating he would never forget.

Besides, Kakashi had a ways to go if he wanted to keep _her_ out of trouble.

Regardless, Kushina wanted to burst out crying, cry a bit more and cry until she had no tears left, the only thing keeping her from doing so was her ninja side. A ninja was a machine of killing; their job was mainly based on killing anyways. You'd need to have a heart of steel if you wanted to remain sane, at least on missions. But, Kushina had realized a while ago, that the Ninja ideology was the complete opposite of her own way of thinking.

She was a mother, and a very dangerous one at that

* * *

KUMOGAKURE, Raikage Tower, after the explosion

"Raikage-sama!" A Kumo ninja wearing a jounin vest barged in the Raikage's office. The ninja's frantic expression was not at all a good sign for A, who was busy with his goddamned mountain of paperwork, thinking at the same time about his _little prisoners_. Yes, he had given the order for the kidnap of the Namikaze and Uchiha kids.

He saw it as compensation for the Hyuga girl.

"What is it?" he asked grumpily, dismissing his thoughts about how much fun he'd have, uncovering the secrets of the Sharingan and the Flying Thunder God technique. After all, he hadn't went through all the trouble of abducting the two just because of the Hyuga girl that had slipped right out of his hands, but also because of their heritage.

"The prisoners have escaped." The poor ninja tried to get out of the room before experiencing the Raikage's wrath, finding it impossible.

"ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT TWO LITTLE KIDS THAT AREN'T EVEN GENIN MANAGED TO BEAT AN ARMY OF CHUNIN?"

"It s-seems like t-the children w-were too small to d-detect in the large crowd."

"GET OUT AND DON'T COME BACK UNLESS YOU FIND THOSE TWO!"

Why was he always the one to be defeated? And by little kids, nonetheless. A couldn't imagine the trouble he'd be going through if the two actually managed to somehow escape. After the Hyuga Affair, they had barely stopped a war. Now, he was completely at fault, with no excuse at all with which he could counter attack. He was in deep trouble.

And there was more to come.

He had kidnapped the Hokage's son.

Yeah, deep trouble indeed.

* * *

Naruto huffed as he dodged a kunai flying towards him, getting out of its reach and slashing at its owner before again returning to where Sasuke was, receiving a few cuts from shurikens and other kunais on the way. The two were skilled, that was for sure, but they were at an obvious disadvantage of number and level. If Naruto couldn't work out a plan, then both were doomed; they'd either be gravely injured or dead. Naruto was slashing at people and throwing kicks around frantically.

The sixth guard went down.

Regardless, Sasuke had managed to fight with some decent teamwork, he'd beat the ones coming closer to Naruto, and Naruto would beat the ones coming closer to him. The raven had to admit, it wasn't really bad to trust someone this much, which he had just found out due to his lack of friends.

The seventh went down.

The boys were already covered in lots of cuts, Naruto was sure that he at least had a few broken ribs, and the blond couldn't even start to understand how Sasuke was feeling, as he himself felt that bad with Kyuubi's constant healing of his bones and muscles combined with his seemingly unlimited stamina. There was still an army waiting for them, but they had an estimated two minutes before both went down from exhaustion.

That was when Naruto noticed the open window, large enough for at least one of them to use to get out.

There went the eighth.

"Sasuke," Naruto said, still fighting with his opponent.

"You remember that Katon jutsu Itachi was teaching you?"

"Yeah, but it's not complete and it's just C-rank-"

Seriously, why did the boy speak too much when it wasn't needed and not speak at all when it was needed?

Naruto slashed at another person that was about get Sasuke without the raven even noticing.

"Sasuke. Shut. Up. I'll give you two very good reasons. You have to learn that jutsu since it's your official ticket to being recognized as an Uchiha."

The tenth guard went down, but the condition was getting worse, they didn't have enough time and more were coming.

"And if you don't perform right now, we're both dead."

"I noticed that, but it's not nearly as powerful as what it should be."

"That won't be a problem, I'll fuel it with a Fuuton jutsu. Now get back or you'll choke when I perform the technique."

The eleventh went down as well.

Sasuke took a few steps back and stopped when he thought the distance was sufficient, getting ready for the jutsu, as it was his only chance. Forming the required handseals quickly, and inhaling deeply. He could almost feel the chakra and air being turned into fire inside his lungs. Cupping his lips, Sasuke released a blast of fire.

"Katon: Gogakyu no Jutsu!"

He was soon followed by Naruto's jutsu, which made the flames get even bigger and engulf almost all the Kumo shinobi in the small army.

"Fuuton: Ashinaki no Jutsu!"

The two watched the place that they had just set ablaze for two brief seconds, before Kurama felt the need to inform Naruto of the current situation.

**Kit, you've got 5 crushed ribs, a punctured lung and a few damaged muscles. There's no way you can run, and I doubt that duck butt head over there can. So, put that flash technique of yours into use and GET OUT OF THE FUCKING PLACE!**

_But I can't, I don't have any kunai with me that I can throw out of the window!_

**That bastard didn't tell you anything, did he?**

_What?_

But before Naruto managed to ask any other questions, its angry inhabitant threw him out of his mindscape. That was when Naruto noticed a coughing Sasuke on the ground, the Uchiha looked like a person who had been tortured to death. Due to his heightened senses, Naruto could hear the boy's heartbeat, which was very slow compared to what it was supposed to be.

Then it hit Naruto. The place was filled with smoke. Sasuke's body was already in a bad condition, now he was choking to death!

Tears filled Naruto's eyes, streaming down freely. His plan was what had done this to his friend. His selfishness had resulted in Sasuke's pain. Although he had vowed to protect all who accepted him, he had failed to do so, he had failed in living according to his nindo, and he had failed himself. In the heaviness of the moment, all Naruto could think of doing was walk over to where Sasuke was having a battle to breathe, and by the look of it, barely winning. Still crying, he crouched down, Kurama frantically pumping chakra into his body and muscles to keep him alive and moving. With the newly received chakra running through his veins, he once again concentrated chakra in his muscles, just enough to let him gather his raven-haired friend in his arms.

He could sense the remaining chunin coming closer; he could even hear their footsteps.

The moment was crimson; all Naruto could see was the crimson flames of his mother's signature colour betraying him, as he fell on his knees. The flames soon reached where he was, like the judgment passed down by Shinigami. Naruto felt the heat for the first time; his lungs couldn't take it much longer as a burning sensation took over his soothingly smooth breathing. He could feel his body shouting to let go, even begging him to.

_Crimson_.

_Crimson as red as blood, as pure as dusk, as real as life itself._

It was too early for dusk, it was too soon. The boy got up with a smile gracing his lips, forcing his body to obey although it meant straining every single muscle he still hadn't damaged.

_Crimson as heavy as betrayal, as destructive as loyalty, as beautiful as the rising sun._

And what happened in the end was the rise of the sun as a golden light filled the room, illuminating the dark, and extinguishing the crimson glow of the flames, not completely, but enough to create a soothing colour that the blond knew all too well.

_Crimson, as inspiring as friends, as burdening as responsibilities._

When you put the crimson dusk and the golden rising sun together, you'd get the peacefully shining noon sun illuminating the earth.

_Crimson, like the ninja he was._

The boy chuckled lightly, before the golden glow increased, at that point probably becoming blindingly bright.

"Sorry, Sasuke. I've been a fool,"

Was the only thing that escaped his lips before his figure was completely engulfed in a heavenly golden glow.

* * *

A nonexistent breeze hit Kushina. At that moment she broke down, all her emotions pouring down in the form of tears. Something had happened. She wasn't sure what, but she was bloody well sure that it had. Something _bad_ had happened.

It took a while for Kushina to get a hold of herself this time, but when she did, she took off with speed that would've crushed any thought Minato had of her staying still.

She was finding the ones responsible, and that was final.

* * *

Minato finally got to the scene of the explosion, a dozen shinobi greeting him. Judging by the looks on their faces upon seeing him, he assumed that they were chunin. Minato quickly took care of them; he took all his anger out on the poor Kumo shinobi. Some lost limbs, some didn't even notice that they were dead when the Shinigami welcomed them, but it was all over in a short minute.

Next was searching for Naruto.

The place had actually been quite large before the explosion, Minato decided. The bastards had probably been using it as a gathering place, there was ninja ware on every wall. Although Minato wasn't sure exactly how Naruto had managed to create an explosion as large as the one that had hit the poor hideout, he was proud of his son, at the same time worried. After all, the only way of escaping the fire was the abnormally large window located on one of the walls, and Minato doubted they had been in a condition good enough to jump out, judging by the dozen shinobi lying dead on the ground that had been killed by hand. Of course, a rather large amount had died because of the fire, and some because they had inhaled too much smoke.

Minato felt his world's end as he spotted Naruto's weapon pouch on the ground. Why was it there? Why had Naruto left it there? Why…had the boy disappeared?

Or had something else happened? Were the two boys even…alive?

It wasn't long before Minato too was exposed to the inexistent breeze that had greeted Kushina. With grief, worry and an emotion the young Hokage barely identified as regret, Minato took off with his now soulless blue orbs.

The Raikage was paying for his mistakes. Paying gravely.

**Hello again guys! So, how was it? Good? Bad? Wonderful? Horrible? Well, I know that it's another cliffy, but I'll try to get you a chapter in two or three days. Also, THERE ARE, AS OF NOW TWO POLLS. GO VOTE ON BOTH OF THEM.**

**VERY IMPORTANT NOTE**

**Oh and not to forget, many of you will probably have lots of questions about this chapter, which I intend to clarify when I finish writing the next chapter, but in case you can't understand something, anything at all, PM me, or ask via a review. You can be 100% sure that the answer will not be late.**


	5. Closed Eyes

**Hello guys! Here is the incredibly fast update I promised! Now you must all remember, this is pre Uchiha massacre and before Gaara lost his uncle. Just so you remember.**

**Also, here are the answers to your reviews.**

**Guest: Thank you!**

**Mundanebeast: Yes, it is A XD. But the Hokage is Minato so…well he doesn't really like wasting time.**

**Clove 15: Thank you very much for all your great reviews.**

**Ashish: Here's the update!**

**Ninja fang 1331: Here is the chapter.**

_November 21__st__, Konohagakure_

_Sasuke was breathing heavily as he walked; greeted by the appearance of the thing he so desperately was searching for, Konoha's entrance. There were gashes and cuts all over his body, his hair was disheveled, and not to mention his coughing made breathing almost impossible for him. _

_Still, the boy stood at the entrance of the gates, waiting for the guards to take him to where he was supposed to be._

"_Halt! State your purpose of coming to Konoha at once!"_

_Sasuke smiled weakly._

"_That dobe could've at least taken care of this." He whispered._

"_Answer!" came the guard's voice, informing Sasuke that he didn't have much time if he wanted to be taken to his bedroom filled with warm and fuzzy pillows rather than a prison cell that he'd share with Ibiki Morino._

"_I'm Sasuke Uchiha." He managed to say before a fit of violent coughs overtook his body and everything became dark. All he could hear was the ninjas shouting at each other frantically._

"_Oi, get medics right now!"_

"_One of the kids returned! It's the Uchiha!"_

* * *

_November 20th, Land of Wind borders_

"Wake up already teme, most of your wounds are in a good condition so why the hell are you still asleep anyways?"

A voice that Sasuke knew all too well echoed in his head, replaying itself, persuading the Uchiha into waking up. But his body denied the request; his eyelids were as heavy as they would be if someone were to glue them together.

"Sasuke if you don't wake up in five seconds, I'll throw you in the lake over there."

Even though he was seemingly unconscious, Sasuke was alarmed by the threat; since if the person was who he though him to be, he wouldn't joke about such things. The Uchiha could even count him on par with his brother if the topic was seriousness, he knew that the two were as merciless as predators when it came to getting what they wanted, as shown to him after a few seconds.

_Splash!_

Sasuke was forcibly awakened when his body was thrown in the ice-cold water. Immediately opening his eyes, the boy sucked in a long, very much-needed breath, coughing a short while after doing so. When his coughing fit was over, he looked at where his blond haired friend stood, laughing at him. Sasuke's eyes caught some little change, but he couldn't really make out what as he realized that he was completely soaked. The raven thanked Kami that the water wasn't deep, as he had thought it to be, walking towards where Naruto was standing on the green grass. Pushing himself up with his arms, which really hurt, Sasuke got himself out of the water.

"Geez teme, you should've woken up when you still had the chance to do it without getting yourself soaked."

"Tch. Shut up, dobe."

"Alright, alright. Put these on." He threw him some clothes, which Sasuke didn't know the source of, and one of the Hokage's cloaks.

"Where did you even get these?" he asked suspiciously, still observing every move Naruto made to find out what had changed. Apparently, his brain wasn't receiving enough oxygen, as he was unable to, until putting the clothes on and standing face to face with him.

"They were sealed in my scroll."

Sasuke now clearly saw what was wrong.

"Don't you have any for yourself?" he said, gesturing to Naruto's half ripped, half burned clothing.

"You're the one who's soaked, not me. Besides I kind of like it, it's easier to move inside these."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, gathering his wet clothes.

"Why do you even carry spare clothes?" he asked, after all it wasn't really normal to carry with you a complete civilian outfit and a Hokage cloak, even if you were Naruto, the weird boy who thought he could live his whole life on ramen.

"Let's just say that I'm met with some very…unpleasant surprises sometimes."

Sasuke understood completely, after all he had witnessed it himself. Naruto was the target of many "accidents" created by the villagers; they'd often end up walking right past him and stopping in front of Naruto, only to "accidentally" drop their pots of stew or boiling water, or whatever it was that they were carrying, right on Naruto's head, ruining his clothes, giving him burns and large bumps on his head.

"Anyways Naruto, what's with your eyes?"

"What, have they changed colour or something?"

"Maybe I'd know if you opened them."

* * *

_November 14th, Kumogakure, Raikage tower_

"Kushina why are you-"

Minato couldn't complete his sentence as Kushina unsheathed her sword and channeled wind chakra through it, slashing the door to the tower down.

Kushina was wielding the prized Uzumaki sword with the eyes of a veteran, gripping the scarlet hilt so tight that her knuckles had turned white a long while ago, from the lack of blood. Whoever came before the two was quickly beaten by Kushina and her flawless swordsmanship, the redhead wasn't even giving her opponents enough time to react when she attacked, which got them moving fast enough to reach the Raikage's office in the short while of five minutes, since her attacks had been supported by Minato's beating of whoever was behind them in an instant.

It wouldn't be wrong to say that they were like exterminators.

Soon they reached the door to the office, stopping in front of it for two brief seconds and just staring until the more coldblooded of the two, Kushina, got ready to blow the door open with her sword, just like what she had done with the previous one, which was when a heavy desk flew out of said door, targeting them.

However, Minato had reflexes like lightning, he instantly gathered his wife in his arms and threw a kunai to the left, flashing there. The desk crashed into the wall facing the office, making quite a huge hole appear on it as it flew.

"As expected of the Yellow Flash." A's voice echoed, catching the two Konoha nins' attention.

"Raikage-san," Minato started but was once again interrupted by an angry Kushina walking towards the Raikage.

"Cut the crap Minato. He knows why we are here. So, Raikage-_sama_, do you happen to know where my son and his friend are at this very moment?"

The Uzumaki's voice came as an icy vocalization of her thoughts and feelings, filled with venom and hate, as she smiled a false, heart warming smile. Her sandals were making soft noises as she walked, which soon turned into making cracks on the ground after the redhead got her muscles ready for any possible fight, sending chakra to the needed places.

Minato just smiled a sly smile before following his wife, flash kunai in his hand; he walked slowly, almost as if savouring the moment, celebrating the return of the Scarlet Demon.

A just stood before the two shinobi, unmoving, as he examined his opponents, one of whom he knew too well.

Yellow Flash of Konoha, the fastest man alive. Scarlet Demon of the Swirl, the deadliest swordsman of the whole elemental nations.

"I don't assume we could talk this over?" was all A said, he was trying to be as respectful as possible, enemy or not, the man standing in front of him was a Kage very much like himself, and although A was about to lose his temper he tried so very hard to keep, he had to follow the protocol. As was what he had learned from his father, when he was still alive.

The moment was heavy, very heavy, as Minato's grin grew, followed by the amount of KI being released.

Minato's change of attitude never ceased to amaze A, one moment he was goofy drinking partner type, the next he was a coldblooded killer, the next a scheming dictator. The Raikage wondered what would have become of him if he had received his position as early as Minato had received his.

The amount of Killing Intent in the air was incredible, coming from both sides, if it were any normal shinobi A was sure that they would've already suffocated.

The tension was lifted by a sighing Kushina.

"Actually you should, we didn't come here to fight, that's for later. Now, WHERE THE HELL IS MY SON?"

Although he was surprised, A replied in a confident tone.

"So we are not at war." His voice was very deep; Kushina had just noticed it after this particular sentence.

"No, Konoha doesn't want another war. Besides, I'm not a fan of losing my shinobi because of _small_ matters that we can solve without taking it that _far_. We wouldn't want to put the _citizens_ in danger now, would we? Right, Raikage-_san_?"

Minato was back to his false "honest smiles".

"I'm thankful for your understanding." A said, reading between the lines. His voice was begrudging and low, almost unaccepting.

Kushina had said, "That's for later." A was no fool; he knew that Minato was stronger than him, as he had had his ass handed to him in their previous fight. Kushina wasn't much weaker either, so if he were to take both of them on in their current states, he doubted he'd get out alive.

Later, Minato had also stated that a matter as grave as the problem they were currently facing couldn't possibly be solved with simple talking, although he hadn't directly said so, A had understood perfectly fine. The Hokage had even threatened him with the villagers' lives, a threat A couldn't risk making true. Minato was definitely not stupid, he probably hadn't come alone, and it would be no trouble for him to trash at least half the village with the estimated capability of his men.

In short, Konoha was threatening Kumo with not only a war, but also the lives of the Kumo civilians as well as the Raikage.

Minato was indeed a talented diplomat, wasn't he?

However, A wasn't one to do directly as he was told, he was even sure that he would've fought with the two Konoha nin if not for the threat he had received about the villagers.

So, the Raikage finally lost his last drop of patience, his loud bass voice getting deeper and more dangerous by the second.

"Just like the lady said, cut the crap. What exactly do you want?"

A was irritated, he wanted the matter over in the shortest amount of time it could be, and later, if possible, talk to his brother about his failure, thinking it would at least take a bit of the disappointment off his shoulders.

Minato had been waiting for this moment, the breaking point.

"You're going to pay whatever sum of money Konoha requests, I'm unable to give you an estimated amount without the council's approval. You're probably aware of the escape of your prisoners by now,"

A was amazed, he had just taken the news himself, how had Minato even become aware of it?

"We request that your elite jounin join the search party assigned on the mission by Konoha. And lastly,"

The young Hokage decided to let his wife have some fun too.

"We are taking two of your strongest shinobi hostage, in case the requirements are not met by your village." Kushina finished.

A was ready to accept any conditions except the last one. How had they dared ask him to abandon comrades?

"That's too much." A once again said with a large amount of confidence, although he didn't know where it came from.

A was one to not make angry, once he had lost his temper, it would be impossible to stop him, so why was he not going all powerful and fighting the two? He wasn't afraid, no, such was definitely not the case, he thought losing one's life to such powerful opponents a befitting end for a shinobi such as himself, however Minato's threats were too powerful to just ignore. He was left with a very hard decision.

However, there was another shinobi in the room that would turn deadly when made angry. Specifically speaking, a very angry redheaded kunoichi.

A almost gasped when he found Kushina's blade at his neck. He had just _blinked_. No more than a mere blink, not even a second had passed, how the hell had the woman moved so fast? It was not like he couldn't escape from it, what kept him from doing so was the presence he was feeling to his back. The blond Hokage had moved there in that mere second too, and the two had A in a complete checkmate.

"Listen here now, you sorry excuse of a Raikage. You knew very well that something like this could well happen when you mustered up the nerve to kidnap the Hokage's son so don't go all emotional now and act like you care about your people's lives."

This was a blow A hadn't prepared for. He did value the lives of his people, and valued them more than anything else.

"We have fuuin set everywhere in the village and I just need to flick my fingers to set the place ablaze. Then there's this incredibly dangerous squad containing two sannin, two Byakugan and two Sharingan from Konoha, waiting for us at the border, and I'm warning you, it wouldn't get us much time to go there using Minato's speed."

The Raikage was near to admitting defeat.

"And I wouldn't have the slightest bit of trouble killing off half of your village's population myself without feeling guilty, after all I'd be lessening the pain they'd have to endure, since there's an upcoming war."

A opened his mouth to speak but couldn't.

"Besides Minato here and I would take very much pleasure from handing you your sorry ass so think carefully before making a choice."

Kushina was pissed of, she hadn't really wanted to be the one doing the threatening talk, but she was bloody well sure that the Raikage deserved it.

"Fine. I… accept."

Minato sighed heavily. Kami, this was why he loved Kushina.

* * *

_November 20th, Land of Wind Borders_

"Oh you mean that? It's for training." Naruto said. Lying through his teeth.

"I don't remember brother giving you such a training." Sasuke deadpanned, knowing that Naruto was not telling him the truth.

"Jiraiya-sensei did."

Sasuke rolled his eyes again, starting to walk. He assumed that they still had a long way to go.

"It's fine if you don't want to tell me now. But dobe," he said, turning around to look at Naruto, although he knew that the boy still had his eyes closed and couldn't see him,

"Are you okay?"

The blond smiled warmly, following Sasuke.

"Yeah. Thanks for asking."

The two resumed walking, Sasuke wondering just how Naruto didn't crash into trees or trip without his eyes surveying the area, no matter how you looked at it, observation was one of his strongest points, if not the strongest. That was when he heard some rustling coming from the trees above them, which he just chose to ignore.

"Good. Reminds me, how did you get us out of that place?" asked Sasuke, as he searched his mind for any memories of their escape, only to find none. He was bloody well sure that he hadn't been conscious when it had happened, something that severely damaged his pride, but he also wanted to know just how Naruto had taken out the small army they had been confronted by himself.

"…I threw you out of the window and flashed down before you hit the ground to catch you."

Sasuke just stared at his friend for some time.

"And where are we _now_?"

"Border of the land of wind."

Sasuke's eyes widened before an angry expression took over his face. Suna! They were in Suna! It was the wrong way! They had already passed Konoha according to what Naruto was saying and by a lot.

"So we are lost?"

"Well no. I admit it, I might've had a little bit of trouble with navigation since I have my eyes closed but we are on the right way now, I'm sure. We just have to go east and we'll be there in a day."

"A little bit of trouble? You passed the Land of Rice and later the Land of Rain to get here, and you're calling that "a little bit"? Not to mention, you have to walk in a circular route to actually miss Konoha, quite a success there, and then you say that it's because your eyes are closed? Why are they closed anyways?" Sasuke angrily added, looking at Naruto, annoyed at the fact that the boy couldn't see him.

"That has nothing to do with you so just shut up!" Naruto yelled, startling Sasuke. Since when did he yell?

"Anyways Sasuke, now that you're awake and we have a very short amount of distance left, I'm going to flash to Konoha. I have a tag in dad's office so I'll just send a group of ANBU to get you in a few minutes."

And Naruto disappeared in a golden flash, much more brighter than his usual Sasuke added, leaving the Uchiha alone to walk through the forest.

"Heh, I suppose he gave me a good opportunity to test myself, that dobe." He said out loud, continuing to walk and soon disappearing into the trees.

* * *

_November 21st, Konohagakure_

Sasuke woke up to the image of a white ceiling and the sickening smell of medicine. He sucked in a deep breath, surprised that there was no cough following. The Uchiha took his surroundings in before moving himself into a sitting position, which made him notice the sleeping figure of his brother, who had just been awakened due to the stirring Sasuke had created.

"How are you feeling?" Itachi asked with affection in his voice. Sasuke had been missing for a whole week and had come back with heavy bruises and almost destroyed lungs a day ago so naturally, the older Uchiha sibling felt protective of his brother.

"Fine." Sasuke replied, smiling like an idiot. His brother was there, right next to him. What could make the day even better?

However, bliss didn't last long.

"Sasuke, do you know where Naruto is?"

The question was enough to change Sasuke's smile into a frown. There he was, lying in a hospital bed next to his brother, and he was still choosing Naruto over him!

"No I don't, he flashed to Konoha saying that he'd send an ANBU squad to come fetch me and I am yet to see that squad or his face."

His frown only deepened when a worried look appeared on his brother's face.

"Sasuke…would you tell me everything thing that you remember happened after you guys got kidnapped?"

Sasuke tried not to sound disrespectful or disappointed when he started to tell his story, or rather what he knew.

"We woke up in a dark cell and with ropes binding our hands and feet. Then Naruto got his sword out of his scroll to cut the ropes and so we did, we were soon out of the cage. He gave me a weapon pouch and we got out using the door where there was a small army of chunin waiting for us. I think we beat about a dozen of them when Naruto understood that we couldn't get out by just killing all of them, since there was too many to do so."

Itachi's expression at this point was a mixed expression of worry, amazement and sadness; the last Sasuke didn't know the purpose for.

"Then he made me perform the Great Fireball Jutsu and he did some wind jutsu to fuel it, after that the place was set ablaze. I... soon passed out of breathing too much smoke."

"So you don't know how you got out of the place?"

"Well, when I woke up by Naruto throwing me in a lake, I asked him the same question. He said that he had thrown me out of the window and flashed just in time to catch me. After that, he left, saying that he had tagged the Hokage's office and would send some ANBU as soon as he flashed."

Itachi was downright shocked, which was just weird, considering the fact that the Uchiha was mostly immune to any kind of emotion that could be seen by outsiders.

"Where were you when this happened?"

"Suna." Came the response.

The older Uchiha had heard all, and true, he was shocked, because most of it wasn't true at all.

"Sasuke, can't you think of anything weird about Naruto?" Itachi asked with the smallest bit of hope.

"Actually yes, he had his eyes closed the whole time." The Hokage had warned Itachi of this, although the boy didn't know what for.

"Sasuke, seems like Naruto left you out on everything."

Itachi tried not to notice the questioning look on his brother's face as he started to tell him about what had really happened. It would be a long day, the Uchiha decided.

"Listen Sasuke. Everything up till the point where you blacked out is correct. After that, pretty much nothing. First of all, it was impossible get out of the window because neither Naruto nor you were in a condition to jump. As for your scenario, Naruto didn't have any flash kunais or tags on him when you two were kidnapped, as it was confirmed personally by the Hokage after examining the place you two were kept in and later Naruto's room for his Flash Equipment."

Sasuke was shocked, that was obvious.

"But how? I saw him flash, before my very eyes!"

"Regardless, every single thing he could've used to flash was in his room. The next biggest mistake here is that even if Naruto had a tag in the Hokage's office, which he didn't, it would be impossible to flash when there was such a great distance between you two and the village. And Sasuke, Naruto never came back, you both were declared dead a short while before you arrived."

* * *

_November 20th, Land of Wind borders_

Naruto watched from the tree he was standing on as Sasuke disappeared into the trees, jumping down when he thought the boy was far away enough.

_Hey Kurama!_

_**What is it?**_

_How much time do I have left?_

…_**About two minutes.**_

_Right then, I trust you to pull it off._

_**Kit are you sure-**_

But the Kyuubi's voice was blocked out by Naruto.

"Now Mr. Stranger, I can't see where you are since my eyes are closed but I can very well sense your presence and hear you jumping from tree to tree. Would you be kind enough to identify yourself as quickly as possible and state what purpose you have for following us, as you have been doing the whole time since we accidentally came to Suna?"

Naruto sensed the person jump down the tree and walk towards where he was, from the short distance he was taking with his rapid footsteps, the blond came to the conclusion that he was a child.

"I just wanted to say hello." A shy, childish voice answered, confirming Naruto's suspicions about the unknown person being a child. Judging by his voice, the kid was probably Naruto's age.

"Oh. Hello then. What's your name?

"Gaara of the Sand."

"Namikaze Naruto. Unfortunately I can't really talk for a long while; I'm about to collapse from chakra exhaustion and some physical injuries. Nice to meet you."

However, the presence wasn't disappearing, so Naruto decided to learn why.

"Is there something you have to ask me?"

"Why did you try so hard to keep him alive? When you two first got here he was barely breathing and then you slowly healed him. That's what you came here for, wasn't it? To get herbs and other things that you could only find in Suna."

"That's very observant of you. Yes, I could've just taken him to Konoha but they would've had trouble getting the smoke out of his lungs even with medical ninjutsu. So I did the only thing I could, I treated him myself using Suna's amazing medication techniques."

"But why?"

Was all the small boy asked. He wasn't sure if anybody else would've gone through so much trouble to save a single person. He couldn't understand the reasoning behind Naruto's doing so, which made him question if anybody would do the same for him.

"Because he is my friend."

Gaara's eyes widened at the distant thought, which went unnoticed by Naruto.

"I would've done the same even if it were another of my friends in trouble."

"Friends?" Gaara said to himself.

"Yeah. So, one day, if we ever meet again, lets become friends." The blonde boy said, smiling, before collapsing.

Gaara had never met someone like Naruto, and he certainly didn't know if he and the boy would meet again or not, but somehow, a tiny bit of hope had bloomed inside of the redhead upon being called a friend by someone for the first time.

* * *

_November 21st, Konohagakure_

Sasuke was quite sure that he wouldn't have believed a single word uttered by the boy if it were someone different having the talk with him. Naruto had lied to him for some weird reason and that was the one thing Sasuke was sure the boy hadn't done. It was weird, when the subject was Naruto.

"Now for the other part, Naruto and you were spotted many times by the villagers of the Land of Tea and Rain, every single one of them said that they saw a blond boy carrying a black haired one. This proves that Naruto didn't have any way of flashing."

It all dawned on the smaller Uchiha. Naruto had really lied.

"Due to the Hokage's terms for peace, both Kumo and Konoha shinobi were searching for you and you were found a day before you arrived."

"Why wasn't I brought back then?" A shocked Sasuke asked with widened eyes. Moreover, he hadn't even heard or seen any shinobi approaching him, whether it was Kumo's or Konoha's.

"Whenever someone tried to get close to you they'd be stopped by a fuuin barrier. When you got back, the guarding shinobi and medics tried to take care of you but couldn't because of the very same reason. No one was able to lay a single hand on you until the Hokage came and dispelled the Fuuin, which we later found out was written on your clothes."

Sasuke's eyes widened a bit more. He knew absolutely nothing to do with fuuin. Konoha wasn't really the best village when it came to fuuin jutsu and he had never tried to learn anything about the technique because of this very reason. Besides Konoha only had four known fuuin users. Wait-

"As you probably know our village has only four fuuin users. The Hokage confirmed that the fuuin had been made using both the Uzumaki and Namikaze techniques and seals, which automatically takes Lord Jiraiya out of the list. The only three people that could've made the fuuin are the Hokage's family and the only member capable of reaching you at the time was Naruto. To further confirm our suspicions, we found Naruto's weapon scroll that contained his family sword in the pocket of the cloak you were wearing."

The smaller Uchiha was surprised to find himself crying. He didn't know why Naruto had not returned or lied but he did know that it wasn't because Naruto had wanted to leave him alone, it seemed more like the blond had known that something was coming and let him escape, rather than disappear himself and throw Sasuke at whatever was after them.

"Brother," he said, looking at Itachi with a pair of big, tearful eyes.

"Let's find him."

* * *

_November 23rd, Land of Wind_

A rather small group of shinobi, consisting of someone with a ridiculous cloak, a redhead, a big-breasted woman and a small, black haired child, ran on tree branches, jumping occasionally, and searching for a certain blond boy. Upon learning the exact place Sasuke had last seen Naruto, Minato had thanked the heavens for the location that was almost outside Suna and therefore not covered with sand, but trees, which made it a lot easier to move.

Sasuke however, was not really as enthusiastic as Minato was, mostly because he thought he was the cause of everything that had happened. Naruto had stayed behind to help him get to Konoha and although neither Kushina nor Minato blamed him, he held himself responsible. Although it was against his rumored Uchiha pride, he was fed up with defining himself as an Uchiha ever since his so called pride had caused his friend trouble.

Trouble, that they didn't know if Naruto was out of or not.

Besides, Sasuke wasn't just an Uchiha. He was Sasuke Uchiha. He wasn't a surname, he was himself.

Still, it pained him to know that it had been Naruto that had been harmed because of his obsession, after all if he had actually paid attention, he would've realized that there was fuuin on the clothes he had taken from Naruto, or that there was a scroll in his pocket. He had come to the conclusion that being too full of himself had numbed his senses; too much self-confidence had prevented him from doing much of anything. And it had all been caused by the surname he was so proud of; it all was because of the confidence its legacy had given him.

Apparently, you had to earn power yourself.

Sasuke Uchiha would not find himself ever replaying these thoughts after a certain incident, nor would he find himself questioning his pride or denying his surname.

The group came to a stop at Sasuke's shout.

"There! That's definitely the place!"

He had made the river out just in time, thanks to the bundle of clothes he recognized as his own. And next to them was a tuft of blond hair-

Wait, that was Naruto!

Sasuke immediately darted out, soon followed by the rest of the group. He took his friend in his arms subconsciously, checking for his pulse or any sign of life at all. Thankfully, the boy's heart was beating, although at an incredibly slow rate.

"He's alive!" came Sasuke's shout.

In a matter of seconds, Naruto's unmoving body was shoved out of the Uchiha's hands and handed to Tsunade, who started healing him immediately, while the boy was laid on his mother's lap. Kushina was holding Naruto's hand tightly, stroking his hair, and trying not to cry. Her baby was alive. That was all she needed to know.

Minato however wasn't where Sasuke had assumed he would be, he was pacing back and forth, and although Sasuke didn't know why, he looked quite troubled.

Said blond was busy freaking out because of the aura Naruto was giving off. It could only mean one thing, and together with the information Sasuke had given…

There was trouble waiting for him. Naruto had awakened something he never should have and it was all Minato's fault for not teaching him about _that_ properly.

"I've got him stabilized but we have to get to Konoha quickly, the boy's suffering from extensive chakra exhaustion."

Minato dashed and took Naruto in his arms, saying something that Kushina was barely able to identify as "see you later" before disappearing in a golden flash, taking the boy with him.

* * *

Naruto woke up with some warm substance he felt on his hand, which he later identified as water. The boy reflexively tried to open his eyes but remembered about _that_ and kept them closed, instead calling out to whoever was sobbing at his side.

"Who's that?" he asked as he breathed in the sterilized air, realizing that he was in a hospital.

"…Idiot."

Was Sasuke crying?

"For Kami's sake Sasuke, what are you crying for?" he asked, he wasn't aware of the events of the last five days.

"You stupid idiot, you almost died because of me!" he said, as he wiped his tears, a motion which he thought Naruto wouldn't notice, however the blond had heard him move his hand to his cheeks.

"No I didn't. Geez Sasuke it was only chakra exhaustion."

"No it wasn't. Several of your muscles were damaged when you got back, you couldn't even breathe properly because of a few broken ribs. Lady Tsunade said that you were lucky to even be alive, and lucky that the operation went well because if it hadn't, you would never be able to walk again." Sasuke deadpanned with his affectionate voice.

Really, Naruto knew that Sasuke blamed himself, but the almighty prodigy crying? What had gotten him to act so…friendly?

"Well, since it went well, all is fine, right?"

Naruto felt a certain something coming closer before he received a flick on the forehead.

"No it's not, you could've died because of me! Why did you even do it?"

"Do what?"

"Save it Naruto, we already talked to the Suna villagers and learned all about you and your treating me."

"Well, shit."

"Answer me! Why did you do it? You could've just taken me to Konoha!"

"Because you're a friend Sasuke."

The raven's eyes widened as realization dawned on him. This was why he was sad; this was why he was crying. He cared about Naruto.

"You're a friend too." Sasuke said. The sentence had come out in an almost inaudible whisper, but not for Naruto.

"Good. Then stop crying teme. You understand, don't you? Friends help each other. That was why."

Naruto received another flick from the boy.

"If you truly know what friendship is don't go and kill yourself idiot."

"But Sasuke-"

"Say another thing and I'll talk to brother about all the things you did."

"Okay."

"Get up soon, dobe. I'm itching to have a spar."

"As if you'd be able to beat me."

"Oi, dobe, watch your word! You're talking to Sasuke Uchiha."

"Yeah, yeah."

The two laughed in simple delight, Sasuke forgetting about his completely new hard acquired emotional understanding. It was enough for a day, maybe even a lifetime, he decided. However, what caught his gaze were Naruto's eyes, still closed.

"Naruto," he said, completely having regained control over his thoughts, his voice was of the normal, arrogant Sasuke's,

"What happened to your eyes?"

The blond visibly tensed but stayed silent nevertheless.

"Naruto." Came Sasuke's demanding tone.

"I-"

But the two were interrupted by Minato, a fact Naruto was thankful for.

"Sorry to interrupt you two boys, but I have some very important matters to discuss." He walked towards Naruto's bed.

"Sasuke could you please leave the two of us for some time?"

"Of course uncle Minato."

The boy got out of the hospital room, but not before throwing the blond a thoughtful glance.

"Do you at least have an idea of what you've awakened, Naruto?"

"All I know is that we were in a fire and I had to get out when suddenly this golden light enveloped me and-"

"That's quite enough. I already know what's happened, so open your eyes. It's time for you to learn about your clan and its heritage.

And with that last bit of persuasion, Naruto finally opened his eyes.

**How was it? Good? Bad? Horrible? Fantastic? Review guys! Tell me!**


	6. The Number Is Seven

**Hello guys, I don't have much time this time so forgive me for not answering your reviews! Thanks and please enjoy!**

The Hokage and his son used the empty streets to travel safely, as it was already nearing dawn and Minato simply couldn't take the risk of being seen. The two walked slowly, heading for the Namikaze clan compound.

"Do you know of our clan's history, Naruto?" the older Namikaze asked, trying to talk as softly as possible, since he knew that Naruto didn't. Or rather, that he _couldn't_.

"No. You never told me anything." Came said boy's begrudging voice. After all, the boy had asked Minato about the Namikaze clan many times, only to get the answer,

"Nothing you have to know."

Minato was a loving father, he found time to train Naruto and take him to eat ramen, although he had quite a busy schedule, being Hokage and all. Kushina considered the two accomplices whenever something went wrong in the house and Jiraiya would send his dear student the Hokage his much needed books through the blond boy, such was the intimacy the two shared. Really, Naruto was sure that Kami had granted him the best father in the world.

Except when the subject was their heritage.

"…hopefully you'll understand when this talk is over. Let's take it from the start then, how did the Warring States Period end?"

Naruto knew the answer to that, he wasn't that stupid after all. Minato had started teaching him Konoha's history on his third birthday, so the boy knew the topic like the palm of his hand.

"When Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha founded Konoha."

"Good. Do you know about the system that they used to gain power?" Minato asked, knowing that Naruto had no idea of what was going on. It wasn't common knowledge, hell; it was an S-class secret among the shinobi of the village.

"No."

"It was called the Seven Lucky Gods system." Minato watched Naruto's eyes widen.

"I'm assuming that you know them."

"Yes."

Naruto wasn't talking much, which was downright worrying for Minato, so the young Hokage decided to explain everything to him slowly and if possible, by taking help from the boy.

"Give me the names and their domain please, Naruto." He said, sighing. Minato hadn't really readied himself to make this speech; he had hoped the day never would come.

"Bishamonten, god of warriors."

"The Uchiha clan." Came Minato's passive voice, surprising Naruto. What was the meaning of giving a clan a god's title? Regardless, he was going to hear out the whole thing before making any comments.

"Hotei, the laughing god."

"Senju."

"Daikokuten, god of wealth."

"Hyuga."

"Ebisu, god of merchants."

"Akimichi."

Naruto was trying to piece the puzzle together but the clues were not enough, he knew absolutely nothing about a system of the sort, how it worked, what it's purpose was or what it had to do with his clan, all he knew was that Minato was at visible discomfort because of having to tell him about it.

"Jurojin, god of longevity."

"Aburame."

"Fukurokuju, god of wisdom."

"Nara."

"Kichijoten, god of beauty."

"Yamanaka."

Minato had said the last word as if it were a forbidden phrase, which served to further encourage Naruto into asking what exactly the purpose of the talk was.

"What does this all have to do with our clan?"

"But Naruto, you forgot one." Minato's voice was calm, there was no trace left of his previous style.

"What do you mean 'you forgot one', I just listed seven gods!"

"But only the original seven gods."

Naruto's eyes widened yet again, as he clenched his fists.

"Benzaiten." He whispered,

"Goddess of everything that flows."

A smile spread over Minato's face.

"Namikaze."

* * *

_During the reign of the first Hokage, Hashirama Senju, the Warring States period was yet to end for some of the other nations, the Elemental Nations were being formed. There were various clans out that didn't yet belong to any hidden village and Konoha had the advantage as the first village on the face of earth. The Senju and Uchiha had spent years as rivals, so needless to say, they had trouble getting along very well._

_Thus was created the system of The Seven Lucky Gods._

_The first was the Senju Clan, taking on the role of the laughing god Hotei, as the face of the village seen by all, soon followed by the Uchiha, who took on the place of the god of warriors, Bishamonten, were assigned to protect and defend the village. But it was not sufficient, there was no order in the shinobi world and Konoha needed other pillars, the Uchiha and Senju were good, but not enough._

_The first pillar to come was the Hyuga, they were put in charge of finances, representing the god of wealth, Daikokuten. By then Konoha had mostly been stabilized in state matters, so an economy needed to be created, a responsibility shouldered by the Akimichi Clan, the seat of the god of merchants, Ebisu. The clan in charge of helping with political matters was the Aburame clan, representing the god of longevity, Jurojin._

_Konoha was completely in peace for at least some years, the politics were steady, they were the most powerful of the hidden villages, the first Hokage had even solved the matter of tailed beasts being shared between the nations. The ninja world was in its state of maturity; it had taken its latest shape, with the second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, a member of the laughing god clan yet again, as Konoha's leader. _

_Then the Shinobi world war broke out._

_The talented tacticians of the Nara clan were quickly accepted as one of the Seven Gods, the god of wisdom, Fukurokuju. The war was fought and won, but not without a price. Konoha was in ruins, a great number of shinobi had been lost and there were matters yet to be solved, the second Hokage's death was among these, although Konoha had earned fame among the Elemental Nations as the greatest. The third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, granted the Yamanaka family the seat of the god of beauty, Kichijoten, and the new member of the system immediately started to reconstruct the village._

_This was thought to be the ultimate system among the members of the Seven Gods, but it wasn't, the third Hokage had different plans._

_It was inevitable that a Third Shinobi World War would start, and the damage Konoha had already bared was no simple matter, the Hokage knew that a decision was to be made. The Aburame were quickly called to duty, eventually strengthening Konoha's ties with Uzishiogakure. The Uchiha were on full alert, using tactics constructed by the Nara to guard the village. The Akimichi, Hyuga and Yamanaka were working together to reconstruct the village, the needed materials were quickly gathered by the experienced merchants of the Ebisu clan, funded by the Daikokuten, and effectively put to use by the clan of Kichijoten._

_Soon, the scars of war were almost ridden of thanks to the efforts of the Seven Gods, once again displaying the efficiency of the system._

_However, the Seven Gods no longer had seven members, no one had succeeded the second Hokage. Although the council of the seven took the current Hokage as their ultimate leader, the presence of a leader such as the Senju was sought, until the third Shinobi World War._

_The Third War had shaken Konoha quite violently, although this war too had ended with victory, Konoha's greatest ally, Uzishiogakure had been destroyed, which had pulled the country into an abyss in means of alliances. The Third Hokage had left his place to the Fourth, another change in the systemic council of the seven._

_That was when the need for a secret defense was realized._

_It was true that Konoha couldn't do anything that would start a war directly, but no one would realize a single thing if it were to be done indirectly. True, the ANBU were looking into secret S ranked missions but it clearly wasn't enough, the shinobi of the secret organization had civilian lives as well as their identities as Konoha's private ninja, which made everything harder to control._

_With a great deal of thinking being done, another and the last possible seat of the council was given, the goddess of everything that flows, Benzaiten, to none other than the secret clan of Konoha, the Namikaze, who were known for their loyalty and mysterious identities._

_Namikaze were in charge of secrecy, any and everything that needed to be done in the shadows was handed to the members of this very clan. Fortunately, the clan had stayed true to their promise, and a Fourth Shinobi World War was avoided, thanks to the simultaneous efforts of The Council Of The Seven yet again. The council was still the one behind Konoha's peace, still being continued by the clans, although none would ever know of their existence._

_The domain of the Namikaze was time, after all._

* * *

Naruto just walked, a confused look on his face.

"Still, what does this have to do with what's happened to my eyes?"

"Patience Naruto, patience. Didn't you notice the pattern between the clans that were chosen? The Senju were chosen as leader because of the leadership of the first Hokage. The Uchiha were chosen because of the capability of their Sharingan, the Hyuga because of the Byakugan. None were chosen because the Hokage just felt like doing so."

Naruto still didn't understand though, which didn't go unnoticed by Minato.

"The Senju had Wood Release. The Uchiha have the Sharingan, the Hyuga have the Byakugan, the Aburame are human cocoons, the Nara are geniuses, the Akimichi are human weapons, the Yamanaka can control people's minds. Don't they all have their own kekkei genkai when you look at the situation from this perspective?"

However Naruto no longer had any of the thing called patience left.

"Dad. Tell me what's wrong with my eyes. I know that you've been using Shadow Clones to fill your paperwork ever since the amount has increased because of the Kumo peace treaty."

Minato looked shocked, as Naruto had just woken up from his sleep and had no way of knowing exactly what had been happening for the last two weeks.

"I just know you too well."

Minato smiled, closing his eyes. He had told Naruto the whole story; all he had left was concluding it. When he opened his eyes, the usually azure blue orbs were no longer so.

"You have successfully awakened the Namikaze dojutsu, Naruto. The Jitengan, in other words 'the eye of time'."

* * *

Kushina bumped into Sasuke as she was making her way to Naruto's hospital room.

"Oh, are you okay, Sasuke-kun?" the redhead asked, finally noticing the boy.

"Yeah." Said boy mumbled.

Kushina grabbed the Uchiha's arm as she dragged him into the empty room. Sasuke wondered if she had already known that the two Namikaze were gone when she had arrived.

"Now, Sasuke-_kun_," Kushina said, her attitude completely changed.

"You have three chances. Where did they go?"

"I don't know."

"Strike one. Second chance."

"I really don't know."

"Strike two. Last chance."

Sasuke remembered the wise teaching he had gotten from a certain blond friend of his.

_Sasuke if my mom ever confronts you, never stay to see the outcome of the third strike. Trust me, it wouldn't be pretty. The one thing you should do if you're ever in this is,_

Sasuke jumped out of the window and started running with an incredible speed that would've made Naruto proud.

_What you should do is run like a mad bitch!_

* * *

"What…do you mean?" Naruto asked with a dumbfounded look, his golden, honey yellow eyes shining with shock upon hearing of his clan's secrets.

"Shocked, aren't you? I expected that much, I had done the same thing upon unlocking my own Jitengan."

"Dad, what the-"

"Wait till you see the rest."

Naruto continued walking obediently, the new information slowly sinking in. He once again looked in Minato's eyes, taking in the sight. The young Hokage's eyes were the same shining golden as his own; three tomoes were in a small circle around the pupil, a larger circle of five triangular marks surrounding them. The boy almost gasped when he saw the outer circle spin, the only thing that he knew about his new eyes were that they made him see…_different_…things.

"Our eyes are not like the Sharingan or Byakugan, Naruto. These eyes don't copy like the copy wheel eye; they don't see chakra like the all seeing white-eye does. They see everything that has to do with time."

They had reached the compound; Naruto noticed the familiar sight of the gates. He had just realized that although the compound was full of houses, not just empty buildings, but actual homes, they were never used, the smaller Namikaze hadn't really noticed it in his five short years of life, but there was no one, not even a single guard or person, living in the overly large compound. He was going to learn where exactly the whole Namikaze clan was in a few minutes.

"Naruto, you and I are the only two users of the Jitengan who are alive. As far as I know, only the master family members are able to awaken it."

"Did grandfather have it?"

"Yeah. He taught me everything I know." The blond boy always saw some sort of distant look in Minato's eyes when the subject was about his grandfather.

Naruto noticed that they were heading for a rather large building, which he barely identified as a shrine. He had never explored the compound before, mostly because he was forbidden from doing so, and also because whenever he managed to sneak out, Kakashi would jump in front of him, forcibly shove an Icha Icha in his hands, and throw him to Kushina.

The two entered the temple, where Naruto saw a rather large statue of Benzaiten waiting for him. He just watched, dumbstruck, as Minato pulled the statue's raised hand down, opening a door that had been disguised as a wall.

"Once you come inside you will have no chance to go back." Naruto heard his father say with a steely tone of voice, which made him understand that the matter at hand was indeed a grave one that was probably as important as giving Kushina her daily portion of sweets.

The blond boy gulped, mustering up every single bit of courage he had in himself, and walked right through the open door, closely followed by Minato. Soon, the two Namikaze found themselves walking down a rather long staircase.

"Once we're down there, you'll have quite a shock. Keep that in mind."

However the boy was having trouble accepting the rather weird chain of events he had been experiencing for the last two weeks. First, he had learned about a mysterious historical structure that still kept Konoha together. Then, he had learned about this rather…interesting dojutsu that he had apparently awakened due to an accident and now…well, he prayed to Kami to survive, since he really was expecting a heart attack.

Naruto was surprised to find himself panting upon finally reaching the end of the stairs, it had taken them forever to actually get there. He was surprised to find himself standing before yet another door, exasperated because of having to wait so much. Minato noticed his son's discomfort, putting a soothing hand on his shoulder.

"Right then," he said, looking at the small boy,

"Open the door."

Naruto put his small hand on the door, pushing it wide open.

* * *

"_Sensei, the time has come." Minato said, looking at Jiraiya with a serious expression that he mostly used in Hokage matters._

"_I see…I'll handle the academy."_

"_Thanks, but sensei…what if he… denies it?"_

_Jiraiya looked at his student's blank expression, not saying a single thing for a while. After all he was right, it wasn't a small issue that Naruto would have to take in. The system was a thing of its own but combined with the real face of the Namikaze and their dojutsu's power… it certainly was too much for a child._

_But Naruto was no normal kid._

"_It'll be fine, he's your son, after all."_

* * *

Naruto just stood, rooted at his spot, trying to process the sight. He was greeted with an overly large room, probably larger than even the Hokage Tower's floors respectively. The ceiling had been painted; half of it had the image of day, the other night, a perfectly drawn yin-yang symbol separating the two in the middle.

But that was not what had surprised Naruto.

There, lined up and on bended knee, was the Namikaze clan, greeting him.

One of them who Naruto thought was in his mid-twenties, stood up, the boy was especially surprised to find that his hair resembled the style of the Hyuga's. Naruto was still trying to shake the shock off, he had found that his own clan was probably larger than the Uchiha's, he hadn't seen the clan for even once and now they were right in front of him, as real as himself.

"Namikaze Naruto," said the one that was standing,

"Welcome," the whole clan stood up simultaneously,

"To the secret city of the Namikaze."

The boy blinked a few times, a smile appearing on his face. His Jitengan started to spin with glee as he walked towards where his father was, right before the large crowd.

"We are a secret clan, Naruto," Minato continued to explain,

"Which is why our members, techniques and dojutsu are kept a secret from all of Konoha. We are the ones that support Konoha behind the shadows by performing all sorts of tasks; every Namikaze is born with that responsibility. You are no exception."

Naruto had noticed the doubt in his father's eyes.

"So if you're going to become a clan member, which you don't have to-"

"Are you crazy? This is my heritage! Of course I have to!"

Minato smiled once again at his son's straightforwardness, thanking Kami that the boy had the habit.

"The upper Konoha is led by the Uchiha. The underground however, is ours. Every door leads to a family's house in here, this is where we continue our existence."

Naruto then understood the reasoning with the empty houses; they were connected to the lower city by tunnels.

"You're allowed anywhere from now on, Naruto. However it all has a price. No one can know about your coming here, not even Kushina."

The blond boy had been waiting for this one specific remark, although it was a rather heavy blow for him. What good was knowing of his clan if he couldn't share it with anyone?

But he let himself be engulfed in the happiness of having unlocked his dojutsu, managing to successfully shake it all off.

* * *

The two arrived home within a short, ten minute long walking session. Both were silent, they had already canceled their dojutsu, and neither knew exactly how to continue their conversation.

But it had to be continued, Naruto didn't know everything yet,

Minato again took a deep breath; it was the hardest part to explain for him.

"Naruto starting from today you'll be attending the academy. As soon as you graduate you'll be given missions with-"

"With my genin team right? I already know that stuff."

"No, with your _other_ team."

"My other team?"

Naruto sighed; his father was making everything harder to understand. What was this team of his about?

"You'll have to be sent on some _missions _with another team from our clan."

Naruto raised a brow.

"And what exactly are these missions?"

"Things like…" he took another deep breath,

"…Assassination."

"Wh-"

"YOU TWO, WHY AM I NOT INFORMED OF THIS TRIP OF YOURS?" came Kushina's angry voice. The two slowly turned around like a rusty pair of gears.

"K-Kushina?"

"Yes, Kushina, the one who set countless fuuin in the hospital room to know when you get out."

"Well, shit."

"Mom, we-"

But a certain running raven-haired boy tackled Naruto to the ground before he could finish the sentence.

"Naruto, what the-"

"Oh my, all my charges have gathered here for me. How kind of you."

Kushina readied a frying pan that she had taken out of nowhere, her scarlet hair was separated into nine bunches by a strange force, a grin appearing on her face. That was when a bruised Jiraiya landed just next to them, quite a large bump on his head, followed by a running Tsunade.

"Sasuke, give me your hand."

"..."

Naruto took advantage of his new dojutsu and flashed away, leaving Jiraiya and Minato to the two women's mercy.

* * *

Itachi left his work as a golden light coming from outside the house caught his attention. He was met with a rather…interesting sight.

There, lying on Naruto, was Sasuke, both rubbing their heads. The two soon realized the awkwardness of the position, Sasuke darting back and Naruto immediately standing up.

"What the hell? Did you tag the compound?" Sasuke asked, dusting himself off.

"I don't need tags anymore." Came Naruto's reply, stirring Sasuke's interest and making him look in his eyes.

"Is this…what you've been hiding all the time?" Naruto looked down.

"Yeah."

"Explain."

"It's a secret."

"Explain."

"It's a dojutsu."

"I noticed that."

Itachi jumped on a tree branch, attempting to find out what the kekkei genkai was. He had never seen it before, the only two dojutsu he had seen in his years as a ninja were the Sharingan, which he owned, and the Byakugan. This was unlike anything he had heard of, it was obvious that most people didn't even know of it.

"I know that you're up the tree two metres away from us so you can come over here, Itachi-nii."

The older Uchiha couldn't help but be surprised. He wanted to test this new kekkei genkai's limit. Getting a kunai out of his weapon pouch, he threw it at the blond, surprised to find that his small hand was waiting for the weapon, catching it effortlessly. He jumped down from the tree, walking towards where Naruto was.

Now, the two Uchiha were staring at Naruto's golden eyes, saying with their synchronized voice,

"Explain."

"It's the Namikaze dojutsu."

"What does it do?"

"Sees time."

Even Itachi gaped at the statement.

"Sees everything related to time in slow motion. Sees probable events to happen in five seconds."

"Prove." Was all Sasuke said, instead of examining the boy with doubtful eyes like Itachi did.

"In three second auntie Mikoto will come out and tell you two to come inside."

Surely enough, the gentle voice of Mikoto Uchiha was heard.

"Boys, what are you doing there, it's barely even 6 o'clock. Come inside, it's cold! Oh, Naruto-kun, would you like to come in for breakfast too?"

"And she'll trip in two seconds."

Sasuke and Itachi just stood and watched as Mikoto tripped over a rock.

"And I don't need tags anymore. But please keep it a secret, it's very important."

The two nodded.

"Well, see you then!"

* * *

"Naruto wake up!" Kushina shouted from the kitchen, preparing pancakes for the two blonds. She got ready to shout for a second time but her expectations were ruined when Naruto ran down the stairs, wearing a black t-shirt that contained both the Namikaze and Uzumaki symbols, grabbed the plate that held the three pancakes, and with equal velocity, ran out the kitchen.

"I'M GONNA BE LATE DAMMIT!" he shouted before dashing out the door. Kushina's hand trembled with anger while Minato just sighed, trying to straighten his newspaper that had been folded backwards with the impact Naruto's "Run Like a Bitch no Jutsu" had created.

"That brat…" Kushina said, clutching the frying pan.

"Go easy on him Kushina, it's his first day at the academy after all." Minato mumbled, drinking his coffee at the same time.

"You're sure of this, right Minato?" The blond Hokage could see the look in his wife's eyes. Worry.

"He has to become a ninja as soon as possible with all these people after him. Besides, you already noticed didn't you? That he awakened his dojutsu."

"I did, that's why we shouldn't hurry that much. What if someone were to find out?"

Minato hadn't considered that possibility. It was true that no one knew of the Jitengan's existence but if it were to be found out, it would bring about the complete annihilation of the system and the secrecy of the Namikaze that they had been trying to keep for generations. He had told Naruto to never talk about seeing the secret city; he hadn't said anything about the dojutsu.

However, for some weird reason, Minato felt a wave of soothing relief wash over him. The blond Hokage didn't know why, but something inside of him was telling him that it would be okay, that Naruto was ready to carry the responsibility on his shoulders.

Maybe it was just a father's instincts getting in the way, he really didn't now.

"It's okay, Kushina. That brat's already strong enough to be a Namikaze, he'll be fine."

The redhead's eyes widened as Minato's smile grew.

"Minato, where exactly were you two last night?" she asked, her voice cracking because of the amount of anger being delivered through it, her hair once again separated into nine respective tails.

"…Home."

"Really? The home that's _under_ ours?"

"…Maybe."

"Lets get this straight, I'M NOT LETTING YOU TURN MY SON INTO AN ASSASSIN WHEN HE'S BARELY EVEN FIVE!"

And with that, the frying pan, which was still hot from Kushina's making of the pancakes, landed on Minato's head with a loud bang.

"Bang bang, that awful sound. Bang bang, my baby shot me down." Minato sang, holding his swollen head, preparing to flash to the Hokage Tower.

* * *

Naruto had run like mad, but he had taken his reward in the end, by making it with barely two minutes. The boy quickly spotted his longhaired friend, sitting next to the Hyuga without a word. Neji just looked at him for a few seconds, before his brain completely processed the sight.

Then he freaked out.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?" the Hyuga was throwing his arms around frantically, Naruto noted that he looked paler than normal, and his eyes had already been changed from normal to Byakugan, searching for any slight disturbance that would prove to him that Naruto wasn't real.

"Geez Neji, I'm just here to be educated, like the rest of you."

Naruto gestured to the crowd of students looking at them, which, thankfully, made Neji calm down.

Neji Hyuga wouldn't shout, let alone interact with "regular" people.

However, what happened next was what intrigued Naruto the most. Neji shook the shock off, put his hands on the blond boy's shoulders and said with an irritated expression.

"Explain."

They really were spending too much time with the Uchiha, weren't they?

"What the hell is your problem? I just started the academy, that's all!"

But Neji never got to answer, as Iruka walked in the classroom, silencing the whispering students and making the Hyuga let go of Naruto's shoulders.

"Good morning class. Today we have a new student. Please introduce yourself, Naruto."

"Hello. My name is Namikaze Naruto. For any of you that think they can bully me just because I'm a year younger, don't even try." The boy sat down indifferently, putting his head on the desk crowded with books, and continuing his much needed slumber while listening to the students' whispers.

"That's the Demon Brat, right?"

"What's he doing here?"

"He knows the Hyuga?"

But they were silenced after receiving a threatening look from Neji and his Byakugan.

* * *

Naruto was awakened by some weird kind of pain coming from the back of his head. There stood Neji with a frying pan that he had borrowed from Tenten, the to be weapon mistress carried them around a lot, having found out that they were effective weapons that she could use against almost anyone, except the female ninja of the village.

Naruto, however, really didn't like said machines of killing.

"Whut?" he grumpily said with the irritation of waking up, not yet aware of the blow he had received to his head.

"We're going out to spar." The Hyuga said. He was quite angry himself, but because of different reasons.

Neji had not known of the boy's return until receiving a visit from Sasuke, who had taken orders from Tsunade to do so. For a week, a whole week, he and Shikamaru had waited for Naruto. However, instead of the blond, Sasuke had arrived, which had made Neji quite frustrated, not because he wasn't glad, but because he had abandoned Naruto. Then, said blond had been found in Suna, half dead, and had undergone a risky surgery that could've cost him his ability to walk, or even his very life.

The small Hyuga flinched at the thought.

And now, he was infuriated because the Namikaze was walking around as if nothing had happened. How was Naruto even acting like it? As if it had all been a game and nothing had gone wrong, as if he hadn't almost died a few days ago.

Was he even aware of what Neji had felt like, thinking that he would never return?

And besides, Neji added, wasn't he supposed to be in the hospital or something?

Regardless, Naruto lazily stood up, stumbling all over the place, but walking nonetheless. Neji soon joined him, sighing.

"Why are you here?" he once again asked, getting the same indifferent look from the boy.

"Neji. To. Learn. That's all."

The Hyuga facepalmed at his friend's idiocy.

"No. Why aren't you in the hospital?"

"Because I'm okay."

There went the last of Neji's patience.

"You came back with almost a dozen broken ribs, a few other broken bones, severely damaged muscles, punctured and half destroyed lungs. To top all that, extensive chakra exhaustion. You shouldn't even be alive, let alone moving around."

"Healing factor." Was all Naruto said. Neji sighed again.

This _was_ Naruto, after all.

When they reached the training ground of the academy, they found a rather gleeful Iruka pairing students. The two waited patiently to hear their own names.

"And lastly, Neji Hyuga and Naruto Namikaze."

Neji just stared when this time, Naruto sighed.

* * *

Naruto dodged another gentle fist sent to him by Neji.

The boy sighed, it seemed like Neji was taking the fight seriously, which was not a good sign at all. Naruto was at an obvious disadvantage with the Hyuga's Byakugan, he couldn't activate his own dojutsu because of the fear of exposing it, and it seemed like if he didn't use the Double-Edged Sword, then he would be defeated. Yes, the boy knew that secrecy was important, even he hadn't known about the dojutsu and he was a member of the clan for god's sake.

He dodged a kick this time.

Yeah, Naruto really had no advantage at all, since Neji was co creator of the technique, quite a fast fighter, not to mention a challenging one, and could see chakra. He doubted he would win, a thing he very rarely did. Why was Neji taking it this serious anyways?

That was when he remembered the furball living in his gut.

_Kurama! Think you can push some chakra to my eyes?_

_**I can't really cast a genjutsu but I'll at least activate it slow enough to let you do so.**_

_Yeah, lets go with that._

_**Nice to have you back, kit.**_

Naruto dodged yet another set of attacks delivered by Neji. The boy dropped to the ground knowingly to let Kurama activate the Jitengan and stayed in said position, giving himself enough time to conceal it with a genjutsu. Meanwhile Neji was preparing for his final attack that would, he though, probably knock Naruto out.

Neji dived in for said attack.

But Naruto's hand was there, at the back of his neck, the targeted area. The boy caught Neji's fist, thanking his recently found kekkei genkai, and threw the boy up with his newly mastered chakra enhanced strength, jumping himself, and landing a kick right that was aimed for Neji's chest, sending him to the ground.

Naruto landed a few seconds later, giving Neji his hand and helping him stand up.

"Winner, Namikaze Naruto!" Iruka shouted. An intrigued expression had replaced his gleeful one a while ago.

_A five year old beating Neji Hyuga with his Byakugan active and doing it this effortlessly? Certainly interesting._

"What did you go all serious for, you idiot?" Naruto asked Neji.

"Isn't it obvious?" the Hyuga laughed and looked at Naruto's face with his Byakugan, noticing the excessive amount of chakra that had been gathered there.

"Naruto your eyes…" Neji reached forward with a gentle fist in attempt to dispel whatever thing was going on.

Said boy cursed under his breath, quickly disposing of the genjutsu and his dojutsu, having seen Neji's hand coming five seconds before the actual attempt.

"What are you-" But Neji was interrupted by Iruka.

"It's all for today kids, see you tomorrow. Naruto, could you stay a while longer please?"

All the students left, closely followed by Neji, who didn't fail to throw Naruto a concerned look before doing so.

"What have I done?" Naruto asked, he was sure that this had to do with the Kyuubi incident and the hate he received because of it.

"Nothing, actually. I just thought that…well you know, the theory class seems to be just below your level and your skills even surpass that of the rookie of the year, so I thought that we could get you to skip a few grades."

Iruka smiled when he saw the boy raise his brows.

"Exactly how many grades?"

"I think you can already graduate the academy with the graduating rookies of this year."

"Oh okay then. Dad must be up in the tower so just talk to him about the details. Bye, Iruka-sensei!" the boy shouted as he ran outside the door and flashed away when he was completely out of the room, while Iruka just stood and watched him. Apparently the boy wasn't finding the _small_ issue of skipping five grades all that grand.

Hell, even Iruka himself did. This was a genius that would come once every decade.

"See, I told you that he was already past this level." A certain white-haired sage said, looking at Iruka.

"I hadn't expected this much, Lord Jiraiya." The academy teacher said, respect evident in his voice.

"Now then, what do I have to sign?" Iruka's eyes widened at the statement.

"I thought the Hokage-"

"Gaki is busy with mountains of paperwork that unfortunately don't fill themselves so I'm helping him out. I'm the kid's godfather anyways."

The chunin sighed and led Jiraiya in a room where lots of documents were kept, searching for the boy's file that had newly been added.

"And Iruka, keep an eye on that bastard Mizuki. He'll give you quite some trouble, both as a teacher and an ANBU."

* * *

"How was your first day, Naruto?" Kushina asked, watching the boy devour his ramen, which she had made to honour her son's starting the academy. Minato was silently eating his own meal, dreading the fact that he would have to go back to the Hokage tower to correct paperwork after dinner.

"It was fine, I skipped about five grades. Dad didn't tell you?"

A murderous look placed itself on Kushina's face.

"MINATO YOU BASTARD, WHAT DID I TELL YOU THIS MORNING?"

Naruto, completely unaware of the topic, just continued eating the heavenly bowl of food he had.

After all, such was a normal day at the Namikaze compound and everything had once again returned to being so.

**Good? Bad? Wonderful? Horrible? Review please!**


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